The Grand Campaign
by Jack Newsoia
Summary: I do not own pokemon or any of its canon characters; however, I do own the right to every Newsoia in this story. The Grand Campaign is primarily about opposing forces coming together for similar eternal changing goals. Can be quite dramatic at times...
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I, by no means, neither created nor have ownership of Pokémon. Nintendo has the ownership of pokémon as far as I know of and all of its affiliations. Reader discretion is advised as noteable violence will most likely erupt in later chapters, and sexual themes as well.

_All of the author notes you see throughout the story were made as the story progressed; for the most part, they can be ignored since this story is now completed with little to no major change to the bulk of the story, but if you want to read them then you certainly can, since they are there. But just keep in mind that beyond here most of the OOC author notes at the end are more or less no longer serve much purpose... Well, I hope you enjoy 'The Grand Campagin'!_

**The Grand Campaign**

Prologue:

Ha... The story of my life I guess is nothing compared to this epic tale being transferred into my head right now. Surrounded by darkness, somewhat hearing the talking of various characters I would rather not think about right now... I only have a little bit of time to absorb all of this, and I guess the best way to do so is to narrate it on out...

This story seems to have all started in the Distortion World, where Giratina and a figure to go unamed for now gathered together to have some sort of meeting. I never learned what precisely they were going to try and do by having a meeting in the Distortion World, but either way, the two of them had been locked into this dreary, weary, rather dark prison for a long time, with no sign of bail.

A rocky, earth-like platform shaped like a rare jewel floated here, in this land without time or space seemingly, where even the laws of known physics do not apply. Upon it, were two creatures, both already mentioned, as they prepared for a meeting... A meeting with fate, and mayaps, good fortune...

"Alright then, is everyone here?" inquired Giratina as it rested on a large, flat rock located within the middle of the platform, "anyone missing?" "I am here," one spector says, bowing respectfully, "and we are missing none." A somewhat awkward silence ensued as the two were reminded of just how alone they were at this point.

"Well then... Let's begin discussing our next plan of action," Giratina began until suddenly their entire world began shaking. A crack of light suddenly emerged above them like a slit in a snake's eye. Like marathon runners racing towards the finish line, Giratina and the shadowy spector raced towards the crack of light without further word exchange, the slit growing ever larger every second...

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Palkia asked for the second time, "I'm already beginning to feel kind of weary." "Don't worry, what is the worst that can happen?" Dialga reassured its rival, "all we have to do is open the rift just a little, just so these curious cats can get a look inside." "WE ARE NOT CATS!" Suicune angrily corrected, "we are the legendary BEASTS of Johto!"

"Well, at least you and I are not just cats," Entei joked, "Raikou... Is a maybe..." "You know, I heard that," Raikou grumbled, "If we are to be honest, I think we have a mix of feline and canine in us, so..." Raikou would be interrupted when suddenly as a rift opened just enough to see through, a sudden rush of black swoops through, causing all five, Dialga, Palkia, Entei, Raikou, and Suicune to lose their balance.

The rift just as suddenly closed, but not before a dark beam of energy was released in the form of a shockwave, causing the already off balanced pokémon to be on their backs. The rift then closed, returning the area to "normal" as one might say. As they each recovered from the unexpected event, Palkia began shaking its head. "Oh no, something got out! Arceus is going to kill us!"

"No, if anything, it's going to throw us right back to Sinnoh for messing with its stuff..." Dialga explained, "I'm not even sure if it can kill us." "Well, it certainly helped forged our lives didn't it?" Palkia argued, "certainly it can end it!" "You need to lighten up..." Dialga replied, "yeesh. Now listen, if Arceus asks, just tell it..."

"Tell me what?" Arceus demanded, the pokémon deity standing where the rift had been. As the five quickly circled Arceus, Dialga began fishing its mind for fabricated "truths" that would sugarcoat the situation.

Unfortunately, it was a futile effort done in utter vanity as Arceus glared at the five. "Were you lot messing with my books again?" Arceus demanded, seeing the closed volumes at its feet, "_especially_ my dimensional one?" "It was all Dialga's idea!" Palkia suddenly bursted, pointing a claw at Dialga, "it insisted we show the dogs what the other side looked like!"

The discussion of whether the beasts were predominately dog or cat would have started again, had it not been for Arceus' fiery glares. "Err, does that mean we should be leaving?" asked Entei, "because if so..."

"You three can go back to Johto, but since you were here and urged both of them into opening the rift, then I'm afraid that you'll be forced to choose genders again," Arceus decreed, figuring Entei had been the ringleader this time, "and Entei, I'm afraid the option of you being male has been long over used."

"But but..." Entei fumbled, "I've always been the strong male leader of the trio!" "You should have thought of that before wanting to get your peers into trouble," Arceus scolded, "now return to Johto at once! Suicune and Raikou, you two may go through the gate of your choice!"

Suicune and Raikou hastily rushed off to some other part of the area while Entei sullenly stood still as it began to fade, contemplating its next move. As the three legendary beasts seemingly left the clearing, Arceus turned to Dialga and Palkia.

"I saw the whole thing, so don't try to completely blame this on Dialga or Entei," Arceus warned, "and don't you two say a WORD until you get back to Sinnoh." A protest formed in the duo's mind, but one look at each other and the same general message rang. Resistance was futile. Stiffly, the two stood as they began glowing, and they left the clearing.

Arceus, once again was to itself... Or so it thought. "Don't you think that was a bit harsh?" a voice rasped, "I mean, curiosity kills cats, not legendary creatures you know?" Arceus' eyes lit up as it faced the speaker.

On fours, with black and red wings looking as if they were folded into squares, and then unfolded back with creases still intact, was a long time rival, enemy even. That was all that was visible of Giratina, besides the menacing red eyes.

"Long time no see Giratina," Arceus spat, "I should have guessed you would run to the light like an insect to its doom." A sneer formed underneath the menacing eyes.

"Aye, but you fail to realize that the second to last time I was here, mankind was hardly able to capture a single Pokémon with nets. Now they're filling pokedexes for the hell of it out of your creatures!" Giratina sneered, "who's the one headed for doom? Your pokémon or me?"

Arceus, for a moment, was lost for words, but then stared at the red eyes of the former enemy. "For the record, I'm surprised you emerged in that form," Arceus said, "I would have expected something a bit more... Devilish."

Relishing the small talk (The Distortion World did not get many visitors), Giratina continued, unwittingly falling deeper into the trap. "Well, to be honest, it was quite the squeeze, so it may be awhile before I am back at full strength."

Now it was Arceus' turn to smile. It was already aware of that, but Giratina itself admitting this revealed quite a bit how its relative isolation had affected its judgement. That would have to be kept in mind when Giratina was defeated again. Yet one question remained.

"So what do you plan on doing now that freedom is almost a blink away?" Arceus asked, beginning to edge closer to Giratina, "once again wreak havoc on the world?" "That was a part of my job description!" Giratina defensively countered, "yet I was punished for it... TWICE."

The gap between the two became almost dangerously close to closing as the conversation continued. "Oh calm down, being a domesticated for a whole year surely wasn't that bad..." "You would never know, since you always spend your time in your fantasy world..."

Giratina had nearly missed the warning signs, judging by its late reaction, and almost missed the threat of danger. However, Arceus failing to quickly respond verbally after that last statement and the closeness of the deity to its person was the final needed warning.

As Giratina realized the danger, Arceus slashed in a vertical motion. Thinking quickly, Giratina reverted back to its Origin forme, its body becoming almost centipede like, with yellow spikes as its "legs" and body fully stretched out, like a serpents. An ordinary slash would do some damage; but a slash from a deity could kill even a legendary in one swipe if the blow was aimed right.

Giratina countered by avoiding the main brunt of the attack by using its tail end to strike with a strong counter blow to the slashing appendage. Giratina then began attempting to wrap around Arceus from the legs up.

Foreseeing this particular outcome, Arceus bared its teeth and crunched down onto Giratina's somewhat exposed body, which was slowly wrapping around its own. The attack hurt much more than it should have as far as Giratina was concerned, and it was forced to release Arceus and gain distance.

"So... Is this how your going to reward me for allowing you a little breathing time?" Arceus chided, "I must admit, you are as ungrateful as you are destructive." "Just returning to my duties," Giratina muttered as it stared down Arceus. It had only dreamed of fighting Arceus again, but understood that it was still too weak from the rapid transition to actually have a chance at decisively winning.

Arceus suddenly began forming a ball of lime green light at its mouth. Giratina knew there was only one way out of this without having to fight tooth and nail, without possessing either a tooth or a nail. "Till next time!" Giratina shouted as the dark spector suddenly reappeared, cloaking Giratina and eventually dissolving into nothingness. Arceus ceased the charging of its hyper beam with a snapping of its jaws.

"Oh my go..." Arceus began when it realized what was almost said. Apparently it was paying too much attention to the dialogue of the pokémon who appealed to it at times. Arceus decided to start again with the statement, though the moment had been lost, "Oh my... goodness. There, that fits... This is going to be one heck of a goose chase."

Arceus became surrounded in a sphere of white and vanished. As Arceus vanished, Suicune and Raikou reappeared from seemingly nowhere, apparently having witnessed the events unfold. "Was that..." Raikou started. "Yeah... That was Giratina," Suicune answered, "we definitely better get back to Johto."

"Wanna go male and take turns screwing Entei?" Raikou playfully asked, "cause he... I mean SHE... has it coming." "Hm, better not risk it.." Suicune replied, although Suicune wouldn't have minded finally getting the chance to go hard core on Entei. Both fizzled, and completely vanished from the area, and the light began dimming as an unseen force no longer sensed any presences in its realm...

~ Author's Note: _The original prologue was entirely different, which would explain why some of the reviews to the original prologue may not exactly add up. Another thing to note is that I changed the prologue somewhere after publishing chapter 11 (or 10, don't exactly recall). The prologue is mostly the same, with a few differences after Jack's inital introduction as the storyteller. Don't worry, more on him later on."_


	2. Chapter 1 'Flaring Emotes'

**Flaring Emotions**

_So far, Giratina and a strange, almost ghostly companion have escaped from their different dimension thanks to the unwitting help of Dialga and Palkia, who opened the rift in the first place at the insistence of the three legendary beasts. _

_Arceus dealt out 'punishments' accordingly, had a small banter session with Giratina, and pursued it into the world we all know so well by now. Suicune and Raikou were witnesses to this event, and quickly decided to keep mum about their knowledge, and returned to their lives back at Johto._

_Meanwhile, as Arceus began its pursuit of Giratina, I myself was in the middle of a pokémon battle with the former champion of Sinnoh, who had been bested by the current champion of Sinnoh, and supposedly had helped put Giratina down when it visited Sinnoh some time ago. Don't ask me, I don't know ALL the details of that particular event, but hey, on to the battle!_

"GO! Emperion!" I shouted as I released my empoleon from its net ball. Eager to go ahead and end this, my trusted Sinnoh companion stared down its next and possibly final foe. A lucario stared both of us down as it waited for further orders from its trainer. I have forgetten her name (it will come to me I'm sure), but this blonde, probably cynical Gothic had used this beasty to take out half my team!

And she claimed she was merely training the Lucario while its original trainer (or OT) worked on getting a badge so they could actually control their lucario.

Regardless, its earthquake had taken out my tanking Meta (Metagross) while its close ranged, close combat ended Katty (Delcatty... Don't mock my nicknames!) before she even managed to make a move, and Cambria (Umbreon) with some move I didn't recognize until my quarry had shouted aura sphere in triumph.

My final choice was Emperion, (Yeah, I know he has a type disadvantage alright!) because the remaining two unstated had been taken out by the rest of her six member team.

"This isn't over yet!" I bellowed, "I still have the best of the best; the one who took down Dragonite back in Kanto for the win! Emperion!" At the sound of his name being shouted into the air, Emperion screeched rather loudly. The darkly dressed woman retorted, "It's going to take more than a simple screech attack to defeat me!"

"Its not you I need to defeat!" I shouted, "Emperor Emperion, hit it with steel aqua jet!" Emperion surrounded itself in water, then, almost quick attack style, began racing towards Lucario at speeds that almost blurred together. The move name was clearly unfamiliar to either trainer or pokémon, but Lucario did the most obvious thing; readied an aura sphere and prepared to counter once Emperion was in range.

However, a smirk reached my lips. That was exactly what I had wanted to happen. Emperion, as the distance closed, suddenly reached out a single wing, and as the wing suddenly began reflecting light like newly polished metal, Emperion began spinning rapidly. Unfazed, the lucario charged in hurled its aura sphere at Empireon, and began balling its fists.

Close combat as a follow-up would be testing the limits of our special technique, but the speed and illusion of the technique was the best shot we had of victory. The aura sphere, just inches away from the Empireon's head, suddenly went through air as its target, along with the water surrounding it, vanished. "What the..." the woman suddenly began, until the water reappeared above lucario.

With only seconds to react, and orders to come in short supply, lucario improvised, and moved upward to counter with its own close combat attack. A mistake, for as soon as Lucario began punching, the water suddenly turned to ice. A surprised yelp escaped the lucario as it suddenly began punching at a well made ice sculpture of my Empireon! "Now, show them why we call this Steel Aqua Jet!"

I roared, fist pumping into the air. A single blink and one would have noticed Empireon emerging from Lucario's left side, its right wing now razor sharp. Rather than use the sharp, lethal end, Empireon used the flat of its now blade-like wing in an attempt to face smack the lucario.

Lucario, however, refused to be damaged so easily, and suddenly clapped its paws together. The ice shattered, as if struck by an invisible force, and the events that followed would introduce me to two new creatures and a whole different ballgame...

Giratina knew it could only flee so far from Arceus while in the dimensional warp; in fact, it was fully aware that by passing through a random gate, it may be subjugated to a gender choice; which one wouldn't be Giratina's choice, for it had been rushing through the wormhole in an attempt to 'outrun' Arceus.

In full origin form splendor, Giratina appeared faintly in a blue sky. Its body still closely resembled that of a centipede, but the front six legs had suddenly became jagged and hooked, much like claws, that pointed inward towards a striped, glowing red and black chest. A "helmet" of yellow coloring also crested the head, and the menacing red eyes only grew more frightful as they seemed more dug in than they really were.

Upon arriving in the middle of a fight, literally right outside the Pokémon League, Giratina made a mental note to pay more attention to Arcues' warp books whenever it got back to the Hall. "My liege, it seems there is a pokémon match going on!" the spector hissed in delight, "I haven't seen one of these in person in a long time!"

"Then you'll have to keep waiting, we need to get out of here and assess our situation," Giratina reminded the over-eager spector, "Arceus is still after us." The spector sighed, but didn't argue, as Giratina proved to be a useful medium to keep itself from traversing over to the other side. Giratina suddenly spotted a familiar face; and that familiar face spotted it too.

"YOU AGAIN!" they both cursed, almost surprised at their simultaneous reactions to seeing each other once again. Giratina's broken concentration suddenly caused it to begin plummeting towards the battleground as its figure began rematerializing...

The ice shattered, but suddenly began glowing pink as Lucario seized control of the situation. It was time for a change of tactic. If Emperion continued its attack, then obviously there would be an icy consequence. I wouldn't have been worried had it not been for the method lucario was using to try to reverse the tide of battle.

"Improvise!" I shouted, knowing that I would take too long to rethink the entire strategy. Upon hearing me, Emperion probably did the last thing I expected it to do. It continued its attack, but after slapping a surprised lucario all the way to the ground, Emperion suddenly used its momentum to face the oncoming ice shards, and use its steeled wing to shield it from the shards of ice.

Upon sticking a landing, it then screeched again and moved in to attack Lucario, possibly a pimp slapping steel wing was in order. By now though, Lucario had begun rising again, but, looking up, it shouted to Emperion as it noticed the giant creature's descent. Emperion stopped, looked up, and gasped, beak agape.

Finally, I looked up. "What the..." I muttered as the form of a legendary pokémon grew larger. By the time I realized it was falling, not flying, NOT gliding, it was almost on top of me. Had it not been for Emperion's quicker thinking and aqua jet, I probably wouldn't be able to tell the tale.

Giratina landed roughly on the ground. Not exactly the landing expected... But it was better than landing stranded in the middle of nowhere. Giratina looked around: a large castle like building being the only sign of civilization, that despised woman in black stood before it, a human lay stunned on the ground a few feet from it, and an empoleon was on top of a lucario.

Strange things to see as the first sights of the old world, but Giratina reminded itself it had definitely seen stranger things in its own backyard. The castle like building seemed oddly familiar, with that pokeball sign on it... ! Giratina nearly gasped as it realized that it had landed right in front of the pokémon league entrance! And that meant more humans.

Turning its attention back to the woman, Giratina began remembering what had caused the bad blood between the two; she had aided some trainer in taking it out, and allowing Arceus to send it to that hellhole it had called home for years. Giratina growled as it began levitating again, ready to finish what she had started.

"My liege, we don't have time for this!" the spector, catching onto the unfolding events warned, "Arceus is coming! I can sense it! If Arceus weakens you too much, one of those humans may try to catch you!" Believing its long time ally, Giratina took a gamble on its situation. Rather than deal with her now, it would have to deal with her later, desiring the chance to maw on the bones and spit out the remains for her helpless, broken pets to lick when they kneel to a new master. Giratina closed its eyes, pictured the roaring waves of the Shadow Tower, and warped.

As the enlarged boogie man teleported, another creature came through. This time I recognized it as Arceus, the legendary Life pokémon. I smelled opportunity, and fingered a few ultra balls in my pack as the great pokémon descended. "Sorry I didn't manage to completely stop it," the woman began until Arceus cut her off.

"Cynthia (Oh yeah, that's her name), return the lucario immediately before that imperial pervert gets any ideas." Now, all eyes were on Emperion. He had done nothing wrong... Yet. I recognize that he had been overly turned on by the situation, and prior to saving me obviously tackled Lucario (or after saving me for that matter).

If there was one way to determine if I was fighting female pokémon, Emperion was that way. He literally enjoyed spreading "the love", although I once caught him overdoing it in the wild. I'll never know if the egg would have hatched into a piplup or not... And now no way to find out.

Emperion seemed most certainly caught red handed by the way its blue "collar" had turned a shade of pinkish- red. Lucario and Emperion stared each other down, but as lucario realized that it, err, I mean she, was losing this match of nerve, she suddenly executed a sharp low kick. It was a critical hit.

The sound of foot on metal made a rather loud and slightly sickening clang, sending Emperion to his knees, doubled over in pain. "Oh no fair!" I shouted, "I cry foul!" "So Cynthia, nothing new?" Arceus continued as if I had not just said anything, "because I'm after someone." "Giratina, again?" Cynthia sighed, "You just missed him."

"Crap... Of all the rotten luck.." Arceus panted, stomping a single foot into the ground, "it could be from here to Johto, from Orre to Kanto by now..." "My friend just got racked in a critical hit!" I shouted in an attempt to get some intervention, but Arceus didn't give me the satisfaction.

Much rather, Arceus addressed Cynthia again, "I suppose with your knowledge of this, Sinnoh is in good hands. I can go to Orre in peace." "Why Orre in particular?" "Giratina has a very special... Connection there. I can't allow it to revive that connection and bring about chaos and destruction! And besides, I haven't been there since the wild pokémon returned a few years ago."

I sighed impatiently. This seemed to catch Arceus' attention, and he stated, "Don't worry, he'll be fine. He's resistant to such attacks nowadays, no permanent damage done." Arceus then vanished, and as predicted, Empeleon sniffed, stroke his tenderized crotch, then eyed the lucario who had defiled his precious sword and scepter.

She stuck a tongue out childishly at Empeleon, said something in pokémon, then retreated back to Cynthia. "You counting that as a loss for you?' I asked. "No, I'll consider that a draw of intervention, without a clear winner." "But you and I BOTH know who would have won!" "Are you implying that Lucario just randomly came up with that idea?"

"Arceus was just standing there chatting with you like your a close friend!" Cynthia suddenly gave me a sharp look. "We're not friends, merely acquaintances," she said, continuing, "because obviously, in case you forgot to read _Platinum_, I happened to have seen that Giratina before."

Coincidence? I would learn that this wasn't a coincidence. I was personally counting this "draw of intervention" a win in my book. Nonetheless, I had bigger issues to deal with as I rushed over to my partner in turmoil. As I passed Lucario, she eyed me rather coldly, steel eyed, and I couldn't help but cringe and hurry on to support Emperion.

"My liege, for the record, I don't like where this is going." "Just.. Do it already." "Are you sure? It might hurt..." "JUST DO IT ALREADY!" "Fine... Yeesh, keep your armor on. Just go ahead and bend over real quick." Giratina followed through with the request and closed its eyes. "You should have just waited till we got completely to Orre's mainland..."

"No, I'm going to find out what is going on right here and now! Try to change my decision again and I'll reconsider putting you in my will." With such a threat actually quite possible, the Spector closed its eyes, and began concentration. Suddenly, a violet aura begins surrounding Giratina, enshrouding the beast.

A tingling sensation overtook its body, and a sharp pain from tail to head nearly collapsed the beast. So far, indeed, the issue was being disconnected for so long... Practice would have to blend in with experience in order for Giratina to regain many of its former skills. "Ah yes... Now why did I have to bend over for this? I was already on fours already, so I don't see the reason for..."

"You made the request, so I'm trying to fulfill it. Now keep your dairy air to the sky!" Giratina sighed, although the sudden surge of energy created a sense of impatience and anticipation into every fiber of its being. "Alright then, that should do it for now," the Spector commented, "to be honest, I also found something out that might surprise you."

"Well?" Giratina asked, resuming its natural position, "what is it?" "You're female," the spector cheerfully announced.

"IS THAT WHY you had me bend over?!" Giratina howled in apparent rage. "Don't be angry, I haven't seen a female pokemon, or any pokemon with a gender in person, for almost five hundred years!" the spector spoke in its own defense, "Cut me some slack."

"Oh I'll cut you some slack the second we get to Orre and we find your Hall!" Giratina irritably grumbled as the surroundings suddenly turned from a bright, water, blurry mix of colors to a sharp, defined picture view of what Giratina called the Shadow Tower. The structure towered high above the Orre Region and its inhabitants.

"Here we are... Home sweet home," the Spector announced, "well, at least home for me. And please calm down..." "Calm down?" Giratina hissed, "I've been turned into a female pokemon! Do you realize what this means?" "Not really... My lady." "It means Emperor will not do for my new title once I set my claw grips on it."

"That's fascinating, but Empress works just as well." "... Yes, I guess it does. Thank you. Now, lets get some rest. This mass teleporting is exhausting both of us." The duo quickly found a large, open area on top of the tower; clearly this would have to be their place of residence.

"Let's stay here for now," the Spector suggested. "What was your gender again before you died?" Giratina curiously asked. "Err, I believe it was male..." With a harumpf, Giratina carefully stepped on a floor panel, which activated a protection barrier over the area.

"You sleep over there," Giratina announced, gesturing to the other side of the platform with her eyes. "But why?" the spector whined as it unwrapped itself from around Giratina's person. Giratina shot the Spector a fierce look, and without another utterance the spector hastily retreated to the other side of the platform.

Suicune, Entei, and Raikou all arrived in a large plain. A small pedestal in the middle signified an authority's appearance was due. Descending from the skies came Ho-oh, its red and white feather pattern standing out vividly amongst the lush green surroundings. The fact that it was a bird made it stand out from the three terrestrial beasts surrounding the pedestal, squinting their eyes against the upturned insects that the wind of the wing flaps brought.

"Well, I'm sure there is a reason you called us here," Suicune began, "most certainly, all three of us together, there must be a reason." "There is," Ho-Oh agreed, "obviously, I want to talk to the two of you, Suicune and Raikou."

There was a silence as the two looked at each other. Did Ho-Oh already know about their snooping in on Arceus and Giratina? And if so, how? "Well, what is it?" Raikou demanded, "I happen to had been in the middle of a goon hunt when the summon came and scared the zigzaggers off."

"You shouldn't be hunting them anyway..." Entei murmured. Raikou shot Entei a glance, but quickly returned his attention to the Ho-Oh clearing its throat. "Listen, I understand that lately you and Suicune have been becoming more friendly, and that's a good thing," Ho-Oh explained, "however, I don't exactly approve of the two of you leaving out Entei."

"Well, two is better than one right?" Raikou joked, "I mean seriously, you just aren't satisfied EVER are you?" The personality traits of its subjects clearly were being somewhat affected by their recent gender placements, and it seemed odd that Raikou was the one starting to approach the line. However, Ho-Oh knew well enough that the side effects of the change wouldn't be permanent.

"Listen Raikou, watch yourself," Ho-Oh warned, "because in case you forgot, its either me or Lugia, and we ALL remember what that was like." Trying to teach them to levitate ended humorously, although Suicune had actually been pretty close, getting as high as a few inches off the ground.

"Oh come on Ho, can't you cut us some slack?" Raikou whined, "I mean seriously, its been a long day and I still need to get used to my new... Appendages." Ho-Oh suddenly flared up in furious fire, squawking indignantly.

"You address me as Ho-OH, not just HO!" Ho-Oh screeched, "and if you EVER do that again I will personally REMOVE anything you haven't gotten used to, got that!" Raikou seemed tamed for the time; although he could probably shock the bird from the sky, he wasn't used to being the speaker for the so far silent threesome.

"Now listen here, either include Entei into your activities or you'll be hearing from me again!" Ho-Oh concluded fiercely, "is that understood?" "Understood," Suicune quickly replied. "So, are you ma'am or sir? I forget..." Raikou began until Ho-Oh glared at him. Cringing, the thunder cat squeaked, "Yes... ma'am?" Apparently satisfied, Ho-Oh suddenly shot up into the air, taking off at speeds that suggested the usual haste of a legendary leader.

"What were you thinking?!" Entei suddenly flared, "you could have gotten yourself into a great deal of trouble!" "What is this, twenty questions?" Raikou exclaimed, "you know you might would have gone there yourself had you not gone all girly on me." Suicune delivered sharp blow to Raikou's head with a paw, and Raikou was reminded of what Ho-Oh had ordered.

"Alright, so what do you wanna do?" Suicune asked with a smile, "I mean, we can race around Johto." "Remember the last time we did that?" Entei reminisced, "Raikou almost got captured." "That trainer was persistent!" Raikou insisted in his defense, "and besides, the two of you were too busy to answer my call." Entei and Suicune giggled, and Raikou sighed.

Now he knew what Entei felt like when he was the only male in the trio. "Alright then, how about we just head to Sinnoh?" Raikou suggested, "I mean, all things fair and such..." "You would short out LOOONG before we got to Hoenn," Entei jeered, "so such suggestions are ludicrous." With sparks of its personality returning, Raikou summoned the last of its new vigor to charge at Entei.

"Wait!" Suicune shouted. It was too late, for the two were already in a tangle, biting, scratching, and even kicking. Suicune sighed. "Even when you two are opposite genders, you still can't seem to act your age around each other!" Suicune said aloud, "am I the only one here responsible enough to be left alone with the two of you?"

Entei mostly ignored Suicune, although Raikou would keep note of that particular statement as he attempted to get out of the paws of his quarry. He decided there was always one way to get Entei off, and since Entei was a fire type, a "spark" of inspiration wouldn't hurt her much...

_Author's Note: I'll try to keep the chapters of my stories consistent, though no Guarantee, because this one may be a little longer or shorter than is needed for other chapters. In your reviews, please state anything your confused about, because in my writing I usually come back to things after previous ideas have entered the head, so if things seem inconsistent (Unless its a stated intentional thing) please let me know. When in doubt, ask questions! Your reviews are greatly appreciated. :D_


	3. Chapter 2 'A Revolution Reborn'

_ Alright, so what the heck is going on with Giratina and Spector? Don't worry, its nothing that will interfere with my activities... Yet. My empoleon, Emperion, ironically enough got racked by a really ticked off lucario because he got excited from saving her. If you ask me, that's rather ungrateful, but I guess Im' not the one some perv penguin got a boner off of. Ho-Oh ordered Suicune and Raikou to include Entei in their activities, which seems odd since the three of them are usually separate anyway. I guess Ho-Oh suspected that maybe Entei was being a little isolated from Raikou and Suicune because it (she) was getting used to some... Changes. I also almost got crushed by a giant beast.. I bet you can only guess what happens next. If you can, then I think you better listen on._

**Chapter 2**

Expertly, Raikou began generating electricity throughout his entire body, shocking Entei off of him. "Alright, two can play at this!" Entei roared as she engulfed herself in flames and charged at Raikou. Raikou suddenly began sparking, and suddenly began rushing at Entei. Upon the two making contact, both began regretting they charged in the first place. Entei was shocked and temporarily paralyzed, particular her tongue and forepaws, as the rest of her body began numbing up. The flames of Entei began spreading all over Raikou, creating intense burns all over his body. Since Entei naturally had more momentum because of her head start, Raikou also ended up being on his back as he rolled to put out the flames licking at his flesh. Suicune doused BOTH of them with a well aimed surf, and as the two whimpered quietly about their wounds, a fed up Suicune prepared a speech. The speech never came though, as suddenly two humans appeared in their field of view. "Oh CRAP!" Suicune shouted as she bounded over to her injured friends. Both were, at this point, vulnerable to capture, and as the humans readied themselves to hurl ultra balls, a shadow passed over them. Lugia swooped down, scooped up both humans in her mouth, and took off as if she had seen nothing. Knowing that both humans were finished, Suicune sighed in relief, then licked gently Raikou. "Come on, we better find some kind of cover before all of them start investigating." Raikou and Entei moaned, voicing their body's protest at even the mere mentioning of moving. Suicune licked her lips, then licked Raikou again, this time a little more fiercely. She then coaxed in a rather seductive tone, "Come on, is little tiger out of spark?" She winked, and as she turned to Entei, she nipped Entei's side. Suicune then broke into a run as both, ignoring their injuries, chased after Suicune, one for pay back and the other out of unwitting arousement. Suicune giggled at the awkward, probably painful way the two pursued her, though as Raikou began catching up Suicune put on a little extra speed. The thought of letting Suicune escape and Raikou catch her first seemed to ease away the paralysis long enough for Entei to begin catching up to Raikou. The three raced off from the plains towards the forest, a small dust trail left behind.

Much to my dismay, I had been easily defeated once Emperion lost his edge. Literally speaking, I managed to soothe my friend all the way to the pokémon center. I never really know what that lady does when I hand her my pokeballs, or when I let my Emperion go into their care, but usually the result was that I got a happy, healthy pokémon. This time was no different. Cynthia, maybe just to rub it in, followed me all the way to the pokémon center in Jubilife. She quickly changed her mind once she realized that, despite the technicalities of the situation, my last pokémon had been unable to battle. I'm not the incredibly competitive type who will literally kill to win, but the fact that she kept that lucario out of its ball the entire flipping time really started to get to me. By the time I got my pokémon back, Emperion included, the sun was beginning to set.

"Man oh man I hope there is a little more diversity in the way your pokémon act," Cynthia complained, "are all of your male party members that easily aroused?" Her terminology may be accurate, but the term "aroused" pricked a raw nerve. "Listen, if it wasn't for my Emperion we wouldn't be having this conversation!" I argued, "had he not saved that ungrateful lucario, you probably would be faced with a huge fine." "Not really, but if you want to look at it that way," Cynthia sighed, audibly seeking compromise on the issue, "then sure." "So what next?" I inquired, "what now?" "I am going to continue patrolling Sinnoh for strange activity," Cynthia replied, "I need to stay on my toes, just in case trouble breaks out with Giratina again." "What's the worst that can happen?" I joked, "your acting like Giratina is the devil." "Well, it was locked up in an alternate universe for a reason you know!" Cynthia countered, "besides, do you even know what is going on?" "No, but neither do you." "Actually, I know more than you." "I bet you do." As we continued our bantering, a small, incomprehensible conversation went on between Lucario and Emperion, though based on the angry growls they too continued to claw at each other's throats. Suddenly, a rather violent rocking began to shake the entirety of the structure. "What's going on?" "Hey, someone battling in the square again?" "I think we better leave." "Aww hell, I was almost done!" That last one came from the men's room. The shaking began getting worse, and the thoughts of this being an earthquake from a pokémon match quickly receded into confusion. Pokémon began barking, screeching, howling, even roaring, sending both terrified trainers and pokémon alike from the building. Looking back, I'm almost ashamed to say I was one of those trainers who completely freaked out when the pokémon started going nuts. Upon reaching the outside, however, I quickly learned that Cynthia MAY have had something going on...

High, REALLY high, in the sky was Palkia, Dialga, Arceus, and Giratina. However, Giratina looked slightly brighter than before. The three on one match continued to erupt, as it became a tussle and a rumble, a true shakedown as Giratina struggled to overcome the clear disadvantage it had when it came to numbers. I could only stare in relative shock, as were many other spectators, but Cynthia realized the actual danger of being underneath such a fight. "We need to evacuate Jubilife!" Cynthia shouted as a random shockwave almost shook us all from our feet. How long had THIS been going on? As blue uniformed policemen and women began slowly ordering everyone out, I made a rather important and, now that I think about it, stupid decision. "I'm going to capture one of them..." I muttered to Emperion. My blue companion looked at me as if I had just gone off the deep end, but the opportunity to have in my possession four of the Sinnoh legends was all too alluring. I motioned for Emperion to follow, and I quickly made my way towards the Jubilife TV station...

"Son of a..." Zapdos began, the piercing wind chilling him to the very bone, "Lugia." "Usually its son of a bitch, but..." Articuno began until the joke set in. Moltres sighed. "You know Zapdos, that kind of attitude is why we have been summoned in the first place." "Bullshit," Zapdos spat, "the only reason we have been summoned is because Lugia needs to see some other birds." "Don't forget that BOTH our technical superiors, Ho-Oh AND Lugia are females AND birds," Moltres warned, "and since Entei just went feminine too, it's up to the legendary bird brothers to flare up the testosterone around here! Not get ourselves into unwinnable fights!" "Inspiring speech, but seriously, I sometimes question even Arceus' intentions at times," Articuno interjects, "I mean seriously, not sure whether its a pacifist or lazy. And besides, the three of us, without backup, will only end up like Entei if we mess around." "I think you two are paranoid and overly bitching about this," Zapdos jeered, "listen to the two of you, I swear its like Suicune and Lugia having a conversation!" "You better change that attitude, I hear Lugia is in one of her fits again," Moltres warned yet again. "Fuck that, I am who I am, and no white and blue excuse for a psychic dragon is going to tell ME how to speak, eat, fly, or even freaking think!" Zapdos announced. Unfortunately for the lightning bird, it was a bit too loud. Moments after the statement left Zapdos' beak did he find himself surrounded in distortion. Next thing he knows, a rather large white foot positioned itself on top of his body, threatening to crush him if much more force were applied. The unforgiving, scorching earth beneath Zapdos invoked a burning sensation all along his back. "Excuse for a psychic dragon hm?" the foot's owner spat, "better than being a hotheaded birdbrain who can barely go a sentence without cursing!" Lugia's breath faintly smelled of blood and mint, normally two odd combinations. Zapdos could only imagine the taste in her mouth as he squawked and screeched in an attempt to break free, but Lugia effortlessly kept her hold. As Moltres and Articuno arrived on the scene, Lugia looked towards them. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind if I kill him? This bird has really gotten under my skin ever since we first met, and Arceus can always whip up another Zapdos for your trio later on." "Listen, Lugia, listen to reason," Moltres quickly said, desperate to change Lugia's thinking, "Latios is blue and white, in case you didn't realize." Although Lugia didn't seem to really believe Moltres suggestion about Zapdos referring to Latios rather than her, she allowed Zapdos the freedom of movement nonetheless. "I called the three of you here because of that," Lugia explained, gesturing towards a towering structure with swirling dark clouds around them, "Arceus is going after Giratina with Palkia and Dialga as backup, and he wants us to go after that thing that came with her." "Don't you mean it?" Articuno corrected, "Giratina and Arceus never choose genders, regardless of their forms." Lugia stared down Articuno, her look expressing all the rage at the fact that Articuno just tried to correct her. "I know for a fact that Giratina is a female this go round," Lugia continued, calming down somewhat, "primarily because Arceus told me, not to mention the fact I spot a female when I see one." "Nice to see you got that situation sorted out before they invented mirrors.." Zapdos snickered. Lugia decided to let one that go, for the sake of the possible fight ahead, and gestured for the legendary bird trio to follow. She lifted herself from the ground, and, with the brothers behind her, Lugia began flying towards Citidark Island.

"YES!" cried Spector as the shining orb in the center of the room began glowing brightly, "Giratina will be pleased to know that this worked." Spector smiled. The thought of returning officially to this world practically caused him an orgasm on his way here, but getting his old body back was even better. Because then he could actually have an orgasm. He sighed though, as he could already sense Lugia's presence in particular approaching the island. "Just great, my splitting up idea is suddenly looking like a bad idea..." Spector murmured, the orb continuing to shine brightly, "come on, if I can just get my body back before she and her doggy trio show up..." Suddenly Spector began sensing not the regular dog fire of Entei, but the burning passion of Moltres. "Hm, well that seems to be new..." Spector murmured, "things have changed a lot since I got here." The orb suddenly began glowing darkly, an ominous black aura radiating off of it as if it were steam. "Just a little longer..." Spector murmured as the wingbeats of the four intruders grew louder, "I just need a little longer..."

Lugia landed roughly onto the top of the platform. She roared at the ghastly looking thing practically drooling over a black orb, shaking the very observatory to its core. Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno covered their ears, but a somewhat sick delight seemed to be emanated from the creature. "Well, nice to see you've gotten bigger since we last met," Spector greeted, "long time no see **Giala**, assuming you still go by that name." Visibly offended, Lugia shouted, "My name is LUGIA, and if you call me differently then I shall rip you limb from limb!" "Well first I have to get limbs to do that with," Spector chuckled at a volume too low for his quarry to hear. Lugia suddenly charged at the figure until suddenly a bright flash illuminated the room. As the blinding light subsided, Lugia reopened her eyes and was preparing to smash the orb when she realized it was gone. "What the.." she started until a large wing slapped her senseless. When Lugia thudded to the ground, unconscious, Articuno suddenly stared wide eyed at the creature before them. "But.. That's impossible..." Articuno stammered as the beast from their nightmares suddenly began approaching them, chuckling wickedly. Zapdos, the only one of the two with enough sense left, cried "COME ON, its three on one, lets get this son of a bitch!" Encouraged by Zapdos, Moltres flared up his fiery wings again, and Articuno released a chilly sigh. The three charged at the beast, its red eyes narrowing in on the apparent ringleader of them. "Auras, Shorcease!" the creature bellowed, and as suddenly as the charging trio began, Zapdos suddenly turned gray and fell to the ground. Moltres and Articuno ceased charging and looked from Zapdos to the beast and back again. Gasping for breath, Zapdos' grey suddenly began turning blue, and the defiant bird desperately attempted to take in air. "Cease your fighting, or he dies," Spector demanded. The two birds lowered their wings and heads in defeat, and with a smile, Spector uttered, "Release." Zapdos resumed gasping, but as the color returned to Zapdos, it was clear his efforts were no longer in vain. "Who... Who are you?" Moltres asked, head lifted ever so slightly. "I have been known as Spector ever since Arceus dealt with me back in the old days," Spector bellowed, "but my true name, the name I gave myself to distinguish myself from my species, was Shade!" At the very pronouncing of the name, Articuno shuddered, unknowing of the reason why. Moltres looked towards its brothers; both were frightened out of their mind based on their wild expressions, and even Zapdos shook with apparent terror. "I like your spunk Moltres," Shade commented, "even with your brothers cowering in my presence, you remain strong. Moltres doesn't suit you at all." Moltres didn't respond, but raised its head so that it could make eye contact with this Shade. The piercing red eyes from the ghastly seen before were now purple, but other than that a black haze seemed to conceal most of the body from view, save for a single large wing. "From this day forth, you shall be named **Molten**; the never ceasing fire of the earth!" Shade announced into the heavens, "do you like this name?" Moltres stared down Shade for a moment. Zapdos and Articuno both were in shock; who did this guy think he was, giving Moltres a name? Did he think he was Arceus? Was he a wanna-be... "I accept this name as mine own," Moltres said, "and I await the day you keep your promise." Both Articuno and Zapdos suddenly shuffled towards each other, completely alarmed that Moltres actually accepted a nickname... From some ghastly, ghostly thing that knocked out Lugia with one swipe of its wing. "And my brothers?" Molten asked, peering at them from the corner of his eyes, "what of them?" At last Articuno understood. The being was using telepathy to have a quick, obviously convincing conversation with Moltres... err, Molten. "Depends on what they do next," Shade answered as he approached the two, "flee to Arceus, or embrace the revolution?"

"GAH!" I shouted as I finally reached the top of the building. I had climbed stairs most of the way, but it took a couple good steel wings and some upper body strength to actually make it onto the roof of the Jubilife News Station. The GTS (Global Trading Station) probably would have been a better choice, but I had not thought of it at the time. The fighting continued, and upon realizing that the city was clear, Arceus and his two allies forced Giratina to the ground. Giratina landed right on top of the pokémon center, crushing it and anything still inside with the force of the fall. Blood was running down its face as Giratina shakily stood, panting, facing Arceus. A cry here and a cry there was the only bit of conversation I could catch, but Emperion was deeply interested in the conversation that slowly was turning into a sentence. To what? I would later find out death, but at the time, I had no idea what was going on. But my attention, first and foremost, focused on a black portal that opened above the spot where this was taking place. First Palkia noticed it, then Dialga, Giratina, and at last Arceus. All eyes were on the pokémon who exited the portal, and I felt weak in the knees at the thought I was going to be knocking out more birds with stones. "GO AGRON!" I shouted as I released my aggron from its ball. Yeah, I know there isn't much difference in the nicknaming and all, but when I caught him as an aron, the name seemed perfect. Agron and Emperion stared each other down for five, tenses seconds, probably debating on whether to fight each other or not. A loud screech brought their attention back to the skies, where Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, and a black lugia appeared from the rift. "Gas Hal Commune Unzio!" shouted the Lugia, and to my surprise I could understand that. "Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, what in the hell are you doing?" Palkia screeched, once again shocking me, "and what happened to Lugia?" "She's taking a nap on Citadel island," Moltres answered, "and I believe you got our names wrong." "About time you showed up," Giratina muttered, and Arceus whirled around back to Giratina. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!" Arceus barked at a ridiculous volume, "you brought SHADE BACK HERE?" "Calm down Arceus, the entire town can hear you," the black lugia chortled, "and I'm sure you don't want to ruin your image in front of humans now do you?" Palkia finally asked the million dollar question, "What is going on here?" "Apparently the infamous Shade has returned," Dialga snorted, "not only that, he seems to have convinced the legendary bird brains to join him." "That's Molten, **Zap**, and **Artic **to you Dialga!" Molten screeched, "and dare refer to us like that again and we will kill you where you stand." "Well, SOMEONE finally grew two inches," Dialga jeered, "maybe you want to put your words into action?" Molten screeched, then flew down towards Dialga. Dialga stood rigid, smiling, expecting to literally withstand Moltres' attack easily.

I realized I was in the wrong place. "Emperion, aqua jet!" I shouted, and as Emperion did so, I held my breath and hopped onto Emperion. Agron merely leaped from the building, and upon landing cause a small magnitude to erupt that made Arceus and Giratina aware of our presence within the city. Emperion leaped from the building, and using the water to reduce friction, glided down the side of the building, onto the street, and next to Agron. Agron rolled his eyes as I dismounted, then the three of us began slowly approaching the legendary group. I fingered my ultra balls, more than ready to catch me first a weakened Giratina, then a Moltres who was about to learn how Dialga withstands Palkia's attacks.

"Fool," thought Shade as Molten rammed into Dialga. Much to Dialga's surprise, his very breathe was knocked out, and as he was lifted from his feet and into the air, his shock subsided as bright orange flames chased him to the other side of the city. Dialga roughly landed on its stomach, all four legs spread out on the ground, and before recovering enough to dodge, was engulfed in flames. Molten continued the scorching treatment as Palkia readied an attack to help Dialga. Lifting a single claw, Palkia was preparing to send Molten to a different dimension when suddenly it couldn't move. Frozen to the spot, Artic blew icy cold breath upon Palkia, freezing the gargantuan far faster than previously thought possible. Zap then flapped its wings a bit, screeched, then shot a powerful bolt of thunder from the cloud filled sky to the hapless Palkia. The sudden shock of both being frozen, then bolted more intensely than Palkia thought any of the trio could produce ended up becoming its downfall, and as the ice shattered from the powerful thunder, Palkia collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. Arceus suddenly spat a powerful stream of water at Artic and Zap, downing both birds in a single shot. Then he rushed over to Palkia and nudged him. Palkia warped, then Arceus turned its attention to Molten. By this time however, Shade had descended upon the battlefield, and along with Giratina, tackled Arceus. Arceus managed to avoid being knocked over, but the force of both of them combined was sliding Arceus back. Shade then enclosed its wings around Arceus and swung the legendary around and around in a circle, then flung Arceus into the sky. Then, Shade's eyes glowed white for a short second as Arceus' flight pattern changed from a diagonal upward direction, to a straight down vertical free fall that increased in velocity much faster than gravity alone would have done. As Arceus was slammed into the ground, another screech was heard, and Molten suddenly was down. Surprised, Shade and Giratina turned their attention towards Ho-Oh, who had struck Molten with a quick attack, then redirected its attention to helping Dialga.

Just as I was about to throw a freaking ultra ball at the greatly burned, barely hanging on Dialga, a darn Ho-Oh appeared out of nowhere, screeched at me, then exhaled a stream of fire. Smartly I dodged the attack, and threw a single ultra ball at Dialga. Ho-Oh blocked it, was sucked into the ball, then the ball fell to the ground. Seconds later Ho-Oh broke free, and with a single wing sweep sent me flying. I smacked into the news station, then landed roughly onto the grassy ground. "Go attend to your human PET," Ho-Oh spat at Emperion and Agron, "and I'll attend to Dialga." The two, without hesitation, followed this order, and rushed over to a very dizzy and injured me. I felt pain primarily in my head and chest, though my jaw was aching also. couldn't see or think straight either. I couldn't move an inch, even if my life depended on it, and from red to black went my vision. I guess that is what I get for messing with legendary pokémon in the middle of a... Battle you might call it?

Arceus shakily rose to his feet shaking off the ache from getting slammed by a psychic into the ground. A lugia was taller than him, yes, but he still didn't exactly expect Shade to actually hurl him into the air, then slam him hard into the ground. Knowing at this point the match was lost, Arceus suddenly flashed, then reappeared near Dialga and Ho-Oh. "Retreat!" Arceus ordered as he, Ho-Oh, and Dialga vanished. Shade laughed Uproariously. "You can run Arceus, but you can't hide!" Giratina, its foe now gone, collapsed onto the ground, and the smile left Shade as he realized his side had been smacked around just as much. 'Humph, these legendaries are weak nowadays'... Shade thought to himself as he gathered his fallen bird subjects around Giratina, 'back in my day, this battle would have continued for at least another hour'. The Shade shouted, then, glowing slightly in black aura, the dark side and his comrades vanished seemingly into thin air.


	4. Chapter 3 'Objectives'

**"Objectives"**

**Chapter 3 **

_Sorry that it took so long to actually get this through; there were at least three different ways that this chapter could have gone. Eventually I settled with what you see before you, and more importantly, I did at least two hours of spellcheck. But, since I know I'm BOUND to have missed a few things here and there when editting at ten o clock at night, in your reviews, if not already stated, maybe you can gently point out the mistakes made. I broke up many of the paragraphs to make sure you weren't faced with nothing more than a column of words. Enjoy! (if you don't like the way I ended it, blame the clock)_

Lugia woke up. Upon opening her eyes, she noticed that she was staring at a rather grey, cloudy sky. She looked around her to see that she was completely alone; the giant platform that she was on, conveniently dug into the volcano, had formerly been used as a landing and launch pad for aerial vehicles. She herself had landed here on more than a few occasions whenever she was traveling towards Sinnoh. The circular "room" that was created by the rocky walls had two ways in. One was the small door to her right. To her left was a wide open horizon, the setting orange sun brilliantly illuminating the area. Normally such a view would be blocked because a single large hatch would close from top to bottom. "This moment would be perfect... Were it not for the fact that I'm down three wingmen," Lugia wondered aloud, "I wonder where they went? Its not like them to completely and totally ditch me..." Lugia began thinking back, and along with a headache returned the memory of the black wing that had knocked the lights out of her. She had been so startled by this that she had not even put up a barrier around her mind, in case she had been dealing with a ghost or psychic type. Then again... What WAS she dealing with? Realizing that she had no idea, she decided it wouldn't hurt to explore, just to make sure this place didn't have any hidden residents. A quick check revealed that was certainly not the case, although an idea did come to Lugia. She smirked to herself as she thought of her idea; she would need time, but she could easily set up shop here and find out what is going on from here! Lugia tested the metallic floor; it seemed to be still strong, but was it thick? She stomped her foot, and the lack of any hollow indicative sounds disappointed Lugia. "Alright, there goes THAT idea..." she murmured to herself, "now what am I to do now..." Suddenly a distress signal rang out in Lugia's head:

_'Meet at Arceus' hall immediately! _

The fact that it was sent as an urgent signal must have meant that the plan had not gone... Well, according to plan. Just as Lugia was about to take off, she sensed that presence from earlier returning, with four extra persons. "Just on schedule..." she murmured as she quickly rushed towards the open skyline.

Shade and his crew appeared promptly, almost right when Lugia concealed herself. Shade, far more exhausted from just teleporting all of them than he had been fighting with Arceus, wearily leaned on a wall. He slumped down, letting his high strung senses finally calm down. As they did, his black and purple suddenly began returning to light blue and green, respectively, and the ferocity from the battle seemed to desert him. "Man, Giratina may not be at full strength yet, but this is gonna be tough if I have to be the strongest one on the team..." Shade muttered to himself, leaning his head back, "what am I going to do?" I guess he forgot that Lugia should have been lying down on the floor not too far from where he was standing, but I guess he figured she would have flown away anyway by this point. Suddenly, as the last of his darker colors faded, a familiar feeling crept on him. The feeling of loneliness. He and Giratina mostly got along so well because both had been outcasts, and their history of struggle against Arceus but Giratina was snoozing peacefully next to his legendary birds. Hm, she would need a new name as well, to symbolize her break from Arceus. But what? Gira seemed cliche, but Tina was even worse. He'd have to get far more creative if he was going to give Giratina a more popular name. Shade slapped himself, a little harder than he had planned. "I can't name Giratina... Only she can do that..." Shade muttered, "who do I think I am, Arceus?" Suddenly a thought hit him. A thought that got his blood pumping, his mind jumping, and his smile growing. "If I am to take down Arceus... Then I have to fight fire with fire..." he began quietly, "if I'm going to finish what I started oh so long ago and reclaim my title as King of the Skies, then I will need to fight Arceus with his own power!"

Aura! He had used it to defeat Arceus last time, though Arceus was off guard and certainly not at his legendary power. Nevertheless, that only meant that both he and Giratina needed to advance their aura ever the more. And why stop there? Arceus limits the greatest power of aura to himself; but if HIS legendary army could manipulate aura freely, then they would easily overwhelm any opposing force, even if outnumbered 2:1! Shade laughed aloud, then began pacing the floor. "Yes, if I manage to make Shauara a widely used power, then I could certainly raise a powerful, like minded army! The only trick would be balancing free will with manipulation..." Shade, giddy from this breakthrough in his plan, gave a small leap of joy. Upon landing, he suddenly stopped. He sniffed the air, and quickly recognized the scent of not only his own species, but the only other one of his species who had been left here prior to his spar with Arceus a little bit ago. He turned towards the direction of the open part of the room, and he crept towards the edge of the platform. Suddenly he swerved downward, to look right underneath the ledge, but saw no one there. "Hm... Maybe I'm imagining things..." Shade murmured as Giratina began to stir.

"Well, fully rested and ready to go," Giratina said to no one in particular, "guess now would be a good time to focus on increasing my Shauara limits." "Yes, and while you do that, I'll drain the last of the Liaura from Artic," Shade snickered, "I'm surprised he had any left considering the incredible amount of influence Shauara had over the fight." Giratina, seemingly noticing Shade for the first time, arose, in its Altered Forme, and stalked over to Shade. "So, just out of question, what took you so long?" Giratina demanded, "and why are the three legendary birds calling themselves Molten, Zap, and Artic?" "I gave them a name all their own," Shade explained, "to help them establish a sense of identity." "Identity with WHO?" Giratina demanded, "yourself?" Shade finally comprehended where Giratina was coming from. "Listen Giratina, I know your probably feeling somewhat threatened here, but I assure you this is for the best of the revolution!" Shade reassured Giratina, "certainly that has been our long time goal since meeting?" "Maybe so..." Giratina said, backing down slightly, " I mean, I guess its not fair for me to jump on you for getting those birds onto our side in such a... round about manner." "Well, I mean if you still WANT to get on to me..." Shade trailed, "I wouldn't exactly stop you." Giratina looked puzzled for a mere split second before narrowing her eyes. "Shade, this isn't going to work if your even having thoughts of such things," Giratina scolded, "we need to maintain a professional, distant relationship here. We can't afford to get mixed up with each other." Shade sighed. He knew that, but it wasn't like the legendary birds were going to mind if they woke up to a moaning Giratina. As Giratina turned to leave, Shade eyed the rim of the platform suspiciously, even as Giratina flew off.

Lugia had heard and witnessed the entire thing. A shadow lugia had knocked her out! Secretly relieved that it wasn't just some weak gengar or haunter, Lugia retreated her cloaked head from the rim of the platform as Giratina took off. She had to admit, seeing this "Shade" hit on Giratina somewhat irritated her, although she dared not venture into why that would irritate her at all. Nonetheless, she had more important pieces of information; her enemy had used some Shauara force to increase the strength of his attacks, and the legendary birds had joined this so called revolution against Arceus. Now there was only one problem with her plan: leaving. Leaving was the tricky part. Underneath the ledge where Shade had, at one time, looked straight at her, her cloaking was successful primarily because she didn't have to move. However, the second she needed to move, her scent, mental presence, and of course physical appearance would be exposed. Her concentration had been so focused on cloaking and watching that she hadn't thought about how to escape undetected. At the sound of the bird trio rousing, Lugia carefully released her cloaking, and edged away from her place. Just as she was about to take off, she gave a fleeting glance backwards towards Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, and... Wait, where is... "Looking for someone?" Shade asked, materializing from the place she had just been hiding. Startled, Lugia jumped and, losing her hold on the ledge, began plummeting to the ground. She stretched out her arms and glided, just barely grazing the ground. Flying in hot pursuit was Shade. Ironically enough, he was slowly returning to his black and dark purple coloring, rather than her white and dark blue coloring, respectively. Figuring she was probably stronger than him in the sky, Lugia suddenly whipped around and spat a large ball of water, as if she had fired off a water cannonball from a water cannon. Shade countered by spinning, the air around him literally surrounding Shade and cloaking him in air. The water ball joined this wind in surrounding him, and as a tornado formed, Lugia found herself being sucked into the vortex as well. The wind surrounded Lugia, and unable to control her flight pattern, took her chances with spinning in a reverse direction. As the two wind currents battled for superiority, Lugia realized she still had the greater advantage with wit. Eventually, with the epicenter of the two tornados slowly approaching one another, Lugia stopped spinning and outstretched her left wing. She then ventured into placing it right where Shade's face would probably be, and, as planned, stopped Shade with a harsh slap to the face using his own momentum as the driving force.

"Alright, so we all present?" Emperion stated. "Yeah," came the chorus of my party. Emperion smirked, then unveiled the curtain. The almost blinding light coming from Meta's shining armor forced me to wince. Who's bright idea was it for us to do this so late in the evening anyway? Katty, Cambrai, Agron, Meta, Emperion, and **Keniblaze** (blaziken) all shouted, "Nice to see your better!" Better? In the ten minutes it had taken for Lucario to assess my situation and gather her chansey companions, then do some weird stuff to me while I was out cold wasn't exactly something I'd celebrate. I swear, I felt as if I had been violated in some sense, especially considering upon awaking I was only in a really long shirt. No pants, no undies, nothing but a really long shirt. Not to mention instead of pain I felt sore all over, and... Okay, fine, enough of my complaining, she and those chansey probably saved my life. But still... Emperion nor anyone else would tell me exactly what they did, and even later on they wouldn't tell me. Nonetheless, as I rested on the rather comfortable bed, I began absorbing what I knew. I knew the last time a black lugia had been seen in Sinnoh had been long before official written, recorded history. As my pokémon crowded around me, I began reconsidering my goals. "So, did you learn your lesson?" Agron asked, "about trying to capture legendaries?" "Maybe," I replied, "maybe I learned some lesson." Agron sighed as Keniblaze chuckled. "Some people never learn eh?" "I guess not," Agron murmured, folding his arms, "listen, next time, don't be such a show-off alright?" "Don't worry, I'll make sure to keep that at a minimum," I answered. "I wasn't referring to you," Agron retorted, "I was referring to your star player!" Emperion feigned innocence, "Me? You certainly must not be referring to me..." "Actually, YEAH, you do," Katty intervened, "in fact, there are many of red strikes against you." "Like what?" Emperion cautiously baited, "name two true things that would put me on a red list." "All I have to say is, remember the Battle Factory back in Hoenn," Agron warned, "if I have to say more, then you are just asking for trouble." Emperion seemed to stand down at this point, and I now became curious as to what exactly happened at the Battle Factory. "ANYWAY," Meta said, "the point of all of us being here is to cheer you up." "Well?" I asked, "what did you have in mind?"

The tornados stopped. In midair, two pokémon met eye to eye in a orange-yellow sky, a fiery backdrop. As the two faced each other, one in a snarl and the other in surprise, for the first time, Lugia could get a good look at Shade, and vise versa. Although maybe a color changing lugia, there didn't seem to be much difference between her and him; in fact, not even their respective color placements seemed different. Yet, this lugia was named Shade; had he designated that name for himself? Or did Arceus used to name each and every one of his legendaries with names different from their species? The fierce red eyes almost seemed to gaze into her very soul, looking through her, yet at her at the same time. The unabated feeling of being examined in such a manner disturbed Lugia, but as she was about to deliver a powerful, close up hydro pump, she suddenly felt gravity reverse. Instead of going down, like her quarry, towards the navy blue water, she seemed to be pulled up, partly against her will. The last thing she saw of him before the blurred vision of Arceus' hall appeared was a black lugia almost vanishing into the salty ocean.

Lugia suddenly ascending into the sky baffled Shade, until he realized that it was probably Arceus' doing. Then again, it could be practically any of the legendaries at this point, ranging from Mewtwo to Latios, as there were plenty of psychic legendary pokémon. Transfixed by the illumination, she seemed like, just for a moment, queen of the sky, just hovering there, suspended in midair, wings outstretched in an inviting... And that's when the cold water hit him. As the feeling of submergence washed over him (literally) Shade closed his eyes, relishing that single image in his head. He managed to store it for later, but upon realizing he had been practically breathless since entering the water, he was already desperate for air. He flailed a small bit, then broke the surface of the water as the wormhole that sucked in Giala began vanishing. No, he could not call her Giala; she did not wish to be called that. But why would she want to just be called lugia? That was the name of her species, yes, but it didn't make her any more distinct from the other lugia that had come before and would come after her. Shade gently swam back to the craggy island, the volcano and its internal warmth already seeming heavenly. He had been King of the Sky until Arceus exiled and eventually killed him. If he could make guesses, the new right hand to Arceus was probably the new ruler of the sky; that red, white, and yellow feathery beast that took out Molten. "It must be eliminated if I am to reclaim that title it now literally dresses itself in," Shade murmured as he gently took in air. He had trained himself not to go panic air inhaling, for at a time he had been at war with the rulers of the land and sea. He had technically won, but Arceus didn't really like the idea of a Shauara master controlling the sky, land, and sea. "But what about... lugia?" he whispered to himself, "certainly she would quickly replace the ruler of the sky if that bird happened to become my dinner one night." As he shook himself off, he actually walked back into the volcano, a large cave entrance that seemed naturally cut just a size too small for Shade's bulk. Somehow though, Shade enters the narrow entrance, disappearing back into his heated base of operations. He had no idea, however, that Giratina, high above on the top of the volcano, had been watching the entire time.

"Glad to see your back from the dead," a voice joked, "tell me, how did it feel to get dragged by your fins?" "shut up Groudon," a groggy, yet irritated voice snapped, " the situation would have been different had Arceus' message not disturbed me!" "How about the two of you just shut it so Rayquaza can concentrate?" Suicune hissed, "we all need to get to this meeting, and the two of you arguing isn't going to get us anywhere." "Why do we have to bring the smelly dogs along?" Groudon asked, "seriously, it'd be easier to leave them here." "Because, it's more convient to just have us ALL go in one swoop," Latios explained, "besides, they came all the way to Hoenn, so we might as well be good hosts." Groudon huffs, looking at the night sky. The wind viciously whipped around them, high in the Sky Tower, far from the main continent of Hoenn. The crashing waves below seemed unusually calm, and the eerie fog that usually concealed the location was lifted. "How did they even get here?" Latias asked, nibbling on what seemed to be a chesto berry, "can they walk on water now?" "That's for you to find out later," Raikou retorted, "we have our ways." They weren't exactly going to mention they hijacked a small boat and forced the sailor to sail them here, especially with Latias in the hearing. If anything went past her and wasn't passed on to Arceus, then the apocalypse drew near. The top of the tower was incredible flat, the dizzying heights below only heightened by the lack of ramparts or even a rail; a single misstep, and there was nothing to hold a flightless pokémon to the top of the tower. Kyogre, levitating slightly, shivered as yet another gust of merciless wind threatened to freeze them all. "WILL YOU HURRY UP!" shouted Entei, shivering, "man, why is it so cold up here?" "Groudon opened his heart for a change," Kyogre muttered, just loud enough for Groudon to hear. "Take that back or else you fishy..." "That's enough," Rayquaza shouted, shaking slightly the tower, "I'm done. Latios, all you and Latias need to do is channel your energy and our ride to Sinnoh will be rather smooth. As the two eon pokémon followed suit, a vortex opens in the center of the flat platform. As it deepens, swirling patterns of yellow, blue, green, and even red invited the colorful into its depths. For some reason unknown, no one seemed anxious to go first; it the one to go first usually met the nasty surprise on the other side, if there was one, and had to return to tell the tale. Entei took the initiative and leaped in. "Why is the volcano pokémon cold?" Groudon asked, unbothered by the wind, "figured she'd be the most unaffected of us all besides me." "Probably has something to do with those poffins she ate before coming here to soothe her slight paralysis," Suicune explained, "after that, the right berries provided the healing needed, but it may have affected her body's ability to produce excessive heat." Seeing as there was no screaming from the other side, the gateway was assumed safe, and one by one the legendaries leapt in. The last being Latios, who cast a wary glance upwards, then soared in, closing the vortex as he vanished into it.

"Alright, cut it out," I cried as I was helplessly assaulted by the tickle of Katty, "I mean it!" I had bets that she was tickling me with her claws, but I had my eyes shut tight, my entire body attempting to curl up in an attempt to ward off the attack. But to no avail. Finally, Katty stopped, and as I relaxed, tears running down my eyes, Keniblaze said, "Alright then, all done, get some rest and you should be up and about by tomorrow." I never will know or even question how in the world Keniblaze had finished patching me up, but it worked wonders the day after. With only Emperion and Agron by my side, I set off from Jubilife city, somewhat in a depressed mood. Not long after my encounter with Giratina, I had hitched a ride with Cynthia back to Jubilife city to digest my encounter. They say that when apocalypse strikes, the last place you want to be in is a major city. Apparently I failed to follow their advise, and so that's how I ended up being nearly killed by Ho-Oh. Anyway, not long after the scene in Jubilife, I began considering what I could possibly do to reverse my fortunes. "Emperion, Agron, I've come to a conclusion," I stated as I stared down the eastern route out of the city, "we're headed for Hoenn."

"WHAT!" Emperion exclaimed at the same time Agron made a whoop of joy. "Why are we headed backwards?" Emperion demanded to know, "we should move forward to the Battle Frontier of Sinnoh, and then Unova!" "The only reason we beat the champion was because you and Agron were forced to work together or face the ultimate shamedown," I explained, "and to be honest, I think its because you're gotten a little to comfortable around here." "But... That's not fair!" Emperion protested, "comfort is good!" "Besides, I still need to work in Kanto and Johto, and getting reacquainted with our friends in Hoenn should do the trick." "But..." Emperion whined, "Hoenn is so..." "So what?" Agron growled threateningly, "I dare you to say it." Emperion decidedly dropped the topic. "So how the heck are we going to GET there?" Emperion asked, defeated, "is there some ship that's going to take us?" "Actually... Yes, there is," I answered, "but you see, we are not going by ship." "Then... How ARE we going to get there?" Agron asked, confused, "because you failed to capture any birds in your journey." I smiled Mischievously . "Yeah, but I have two VERY able pimps who can certainly get us a ride to Hoenn." Agron smiled, rolled his shoulders, and grunted, "yeah, I see where this is going." Emperion frowned. "I don't know, we have pretty much screwed the region; where are we going to find some pokémon who DON'T know us?" "The battle frontier," I sighed, "I guess we have to go in that direction anyway." Agron cleared his throat, then said, "Actually, Emperion has been the one whoring the region away. I've been doing some rather productive things." "Such as?" Emperion demanded, "name two things." "Remember when you left me at the daycare?" Agron said, "did you ever wonder why the entire place seemed depressed when I left?" "Yeah, I left you there for two months, and the people said they could hardly tear you away from the group," I answered, " it was almost heartbreaking." Agron smiled, then whispered, "Well, I'll give you two guesses for what I did to make sure EVERYONE enjoyed their stay." Emperion looked both stunned and somewhat offended, but I was a bit slower that day and didn't catch his drift Immediately. My face betrayed me, and Agron plainly said, "I gave the females a good time and showed the males how its done." "DUDE that is sick!" Emperion gagged, recoiling in disgust, "I thought I'd heard it all, but this takes the cake." "One under another in my grasp," Agron reminisced, "trust me, every male and female learned something from either watching or getting in on the action." By this point I understood, and I realized how clueless I had been about what really went on behind the curtains. Or shrubbery, whatever. " Anything else I should be told about before we leave?" I asked.

"What was your second thing?" Emperion challenged, "well?" "Remember when we were attacked by that random ryhperior at Victory Road?" Agron asked, moving on. "Yeah, I kicked her ass and we moved on, so what!" Emperion shouted, "what did you do?" Agron chuckled, then replied, "Well, she had friends, and to be honest, she was going to kill all of us." "What changed her mind?" I asked cautiously, fearing the answer. "I treated her to a proper dinner," Agron said, beaming, "I have to admit, it was nice..." "Now hold on a second, when did THIS happen?" Emperion challenged skeptically, "come on now, you were with us the whole time." "No, we did get separated after leaving," I pointed out, "we camped right underneath the waterfall for days." "Well, I guess I stayed a little longer than I thought," Agron sheepishly admitted, "I didn't get any, but heck, sure was nice getting to know some of the wildlife without having to ram any of them." The multi meanings behind this were not lost to me, and I finally said after an awkward pause, "Your point has been made. So you want to set out from Victory Road?" "Gonna be one heck of a journey..." Emperion said, "maybe we should just head to the underground..." "That's it!" I exclaimed, "that's how we're going to get to Victory Road!" Emperion cursed underneath his breath at the suggestion, and as I readied my digging tools, I looked around briefly for a decent entry point. And, almost as if on cue, that's when the duo showed up.

"Hello Emperion," Lucario snickered, "enjoying your trainer's madness?" "That is uncalled for," Cynthia goaded, "but the madness is understated." "Jeez, why do you have to be such a..." I started till Agron gave me a silencing look. "So, how are you two doing?" Agron asked irritatingly enough quiet politely, "enjoying the day?" "Yes actually," Lucario answered beaming, "I just figured out something cool." "What is it?' Agron asked, sounding repulsively interested, "maybe a demonstration?" "With pleasure," Lucario replied. Lucario then closed her eyes, and, I swear her ears went even more on end than usual, and she made a pulling motion towards Emperion. Much to my surprise, Emperion was actually pulled forward against his own will, and received a rather nasty punch to the beak once he reached Lucario. Agron chuckled, then said, "So you just learned how to use aura?" "Efficiently," Lucario corrected as Emperion returned to his place in fury, "I just learned how to efficiently use aura." "Interesting, maybe you'd like to practice in battle sometime?" Agron said, "say, at Realgam Tower in Orre a few weeks from now?" "Is that a challenge?" Lucario asked, sounding rather flattered, "or an invitation?" "Regardless, we're headed to HOENN," I reminded Agron, "Orre is completely out of the way." "Not really," Agron answered, not even bothering to stop looking at Lucario long enough to face me, "Orre is on the way. The ship has to refuel there anyway." "Pfft, you just wanna fight that lucario," Emperion scoffed, "and besides, if I can kick your rear, then that lucario certainly can too." Agron seemed to ignore Emperion altogether, continuing with his conversation, "So, is that a yes or a no?" "We will see," Lucario answered somewhat mysteriously, blushing rather noticeably, "Cynthia has to keep an eye on Sinnoh so..." "I'm sure you can 'convince' your actual trainer to take you to Orre," Agron suggested, "and if mere suggestion doesn't work, then there is the non-violent protestant approach." Lucario giggled ever so slightly, Emperion blehhed, and Cynthia looked at me suspiciously.

"Alright you two, let's get on a roll!" I shouted, mounting a hard hat with a light onto my head, "we need to get on our way as soon as possible, and I don't want to run into those deities again." "Why, scared they will catch you instead of the other way around?" Cynthia teased. She fell silent though, obviously expecting Lucario to come in with her own thing. When she realized that Lucario was far more interested in Agron, she grumbled, "Yes, we should be on our way." She nudged Lucario, who sighed, then walked off along a quickly retreating Cynthia. Emperion could hold off no longer. "What the hell man!" Emperion exclaimed, "dude, what's with the flattery? Don't you remember what she did to me after I saved her life?" "Holding a grudge is how the two of us nearly ended up killing Jack remember?" Agron said, staring after Lucario, "besides, where you're forceful and abrasive, I come in on a decisive, illusionary choice making instance." "So was that a date to our little Romeo?" I asked, "because if so, I'm not sure your going to make it." "On the contrary," Agron countered, "you can 't walk on the routes because you still aren't in the condition to doge wild pokémon attacks; as a result, you NEED me to dig our way through the underground, so to refuse me access to Orre will get you a very lazy pokémon." "Why not just teach me dig?" Emperion suggested, "that away we won't have to put up with this guy's crap." "Emperion return," I said promptly as Emperion returned to his pokéball. As I stashed the great ball away, I chided, "Agron, I know you and Emperion don't get along well, but that was cold." "What was cold?" Agron innocently said, "it's not my fault I'm far more charming than the 'emperor'." I rolled my eyes, barely realizing I had done so. "Fine, we'll stop by Orre on our way there, but we are heading to Hoenn next!" I threatened, "ONE battle at Realgam tower and we are out of there, got it?" "Understood," my happy aggron stated, already beginning to dig into the spot conveniently marked 'X' with grass.

Lugia soon found herself in Arceus' hall, surrounded by bandaged legendaries. These legendaries, strangely enough, included Entei, Raikou, Palkia, and Dialga. Other legendaries who seemed injured were Groudon, Kyogre, Azelf, Uxie, Mespirit, Regirock, Registeel, Regice, and even Regigias! Lugia could assume that at this point this was a serious matter that obviously required a large amount of both attention and attendance, as the last time she had seen them it was at her coronation as Guardian of the Sea. And that had been quite a while ago. Regigas, besides Arceus and Giratina, was technically the oldest one there, even a bit older than Groudon and Kyogre, and the fact that it was injured surprised Lugia. "Don't worry, the Regis merely were having a sparring match when we showed up," Arceus explained, "Ho-Oh needlessly bandaged them up." "You say that now that they are bandaged up," Ho-Oh defensively states, "how was I supposed to realize they didn't need it?" "Now isn't the time to worry about technicalities," Regigas cut in, "right now we need to worry about the return of Shade." "You speak like you know him," Suicune verbally noted, "do you?" "I was there when he came to the hall and practically eliminated my peers before my very eyes," Regigas explained, "I was also there when he, once again, caught Arceus off guard and sent him to anther dimension." "It took awhile to get him back," Palkia teased, "because this guy here thought he was invincible." "Was that such a wrong thing to think at the time?" Arceus countered, "I mean, he was just a lugia with a different coloration scheme. I thought nothing of it at the time." "I met this guy and he seems rather impressive," Lugia said quickly, "interestingly enough, I overheard something about Shauara and Liaura." "Those are complicated topics to discuss," Dialga suddenly said, "primarily because we don't know much about either of them." "Regular aura is relatively simple to deal with," Suicune interjected, "but Liaura and Shauara, special forms of aura, are a little more in the gray areas when it comes down to it." "Wait, you fought with Shade?" Entei said in surprise, "what was it like fighting another one of your own species?" "Hard to explain really," Lugia admitted, "it was more evenly matched than I had expected." "Based on your lack of open injuries, I think we can all assume that it wasn't a match to the death," Groudon scoffed, "I wouldn't be shocked if the two of you went dumbstruck just seeing each other." "That's not at all what happened," Lugia said, preparing for an argument when a small green light fazed in.

"I'm here!" A high pitched voice squealed, "not only that, I brought pokéblocks!" "WOO!" Raikou eagerly exclaimed, "Celebi, you always bring the goods to the hoods!" "The what to the who now?" Ho-Oh muttered in confusion. Celebi, along with Latios and Latias, arrived on the scene with a rather large metal plate. Arceus scowled in disapproval as the colorful cubes clattered onto the silverware, but before any beast could dare step a foot towards the delicious treats, Raikou forgot his injuries and began digging in. "Save some for us you thundercat!" Entei shouted as practically everyone attacked the goods. Kyogre, Groudon, Arceus, Suicune, Regigas and Lugia were the only ones not in the crowd of legendaries childishly wolfing down the blocks. "Great, how am I supposed to make soldiers of them if they act like this," Arceus, "things aren't like they used to be." "That's because you took away the competition factor," Regigas mumbled, "things were different when Giratina was around to keep everyone on their toes." "What was that Regi?" Arceus inquired, "I didn't quite catch your smart response to my note to self." "OUT OF THE WAY!" robotically shouted Registeel as Raikou found himself in the air, landing roughly next to Suicune. "ENOUGH!" Ho-Oh screeched, "get your shameless asses back to your places before I make gift shop gifts out of all of you!" The threat was taken as seriously as a heart attack, and before long order was restored and the plate was licked clean by a slightly red faced Dialga. Dialga quickly returned to his place as the almost burning stare of Ho-Oh almost literally burned holes through him.

Arceus nodded his thanks to Ho-Oh, and was about to begin when a dark shape suddenly materialized near Latios. "BOO!" the shape shouted, startling the eon pokémon and sending both of them (Latios and Latias) flying across the room. Snickering, Darkrai officially appeared, his dark coloration making him stick out amongst the bright surroundings like a zit on a previously flawless face. Cresselia fazed in next, shaking her head. "You know, out of all of the pairs, you two seem to get along the best," Kyogre commented, "I mean seriously, the two of you never are fighting whenever you show up... TOGETHER." "She's just amused by my antics," Darkrai informed Kyogre, "besides, she's one of the few of us here who has a set in stone gender." "Oh that's an appropriate thing to pull up right now!" Cresselia scolded Darkrai as the eon pokémon slowly return to their places, "Arceus has called us here on a very important mission." "Yes, and if I can get started without any more interruptions, I can debrief you all on the situation."

But circumstance had other ideas, starting with Celebi. "Awww, Ho, why did you have to spoil the pokeblock fun?" "Call me Ho again and you will find out firsthand why I broke up the childish mood!" "How about the two of you calm down so I can.." "I'm still hungry, I can't bend space on an empty stomach." "Suck it up, the only thing I had to taste on my way here was a big blue and red fish." "You weren't so delicious yourself you fat red oaf!" "Take that back!" "The truth hurts maybe a bit Groudon?" "Darkrai, you can be such a douche to us sometimes you know..." "Define douche."Groudon and Kyogre were about to face off again, Darkrai and Latios seemed prepared for a fight, even as Ho-Oh stared down Celebi with a look of sheer anger. Lugia sighed, took a deep breath, and right before the brawl began, roared. She roared nigh at the top of her lungs, and as the entire hall seemed to shake, from the ever extending pillars to the very platform they were standing on, resulting the assembly turning their attention towards Lugia. "Obviously this isn't going to work," Lugia concluded after ensuring she had everyone's attention, "we are still missing Rayquaza, who should have showed up with our continental sea duo, the wish maker, and our shape shifting hooligan. Arceus, debrief the leaders of each of these trios or quintuplets or whatever, and then let us debrief our charges, seeing as they won't at all settle down." "Sound advice," Arceus declared, "but that would take too long." "Well, we haven't gotten anywhere this way," Regigas argued, "and we won't as long as this keeps going like this." A moment of silence followed Regigas' last words, and as everyone took in the situation, they all slowly looked towards Arceus, who now clearly stood out as the only one without even the slightest sign of shame on the face. "For those of you introduced into the world after Groudon and Kyogre, you probably aren't aware of who Shade is," Arceus began, "as a result, that means we will have to spend precious time explaining that." "Or we could divide and conquer," Lugia muttered. Arceus ignored Lugia and continued, "Before that however, I must make it clear that it is imperative to note that he has aligned himself with Giratina."

Not a sound emitted from the assembly; not even a rumbling stomach dared make enough noise to disrupt the trance. "Shade was the original guardian of the sky before Ho-Oh was given the job," Arceus explained, "and was the original lugia." Quick glances towards lugia only made the situation that more awkward for Lugia, as she didn't really like where this was headed. "After of course committing acts of high treason and staged a coup with Giratina, he was defeated, and mankind, for some odd reason, decided to leave the closet and start taming pokémon," Arceus continued, "I thought he was gone for good... but like Giratina, it seems I was wrong about that."


	5. Chapter 4 'Old Acquaintances'

**Chapter 4: Old Acquantances (part 1)**

"Yeah, you bet you were wrong," Suicune retorted, "yeesh, at the very least you could have warned us the last time we were here." "I didn't realize Giratina was here until you all left," Arceus snarled, "unless of course you and a certain thunder cat were here a little longer than you let on?" Raikou, who had by now been completely restored, glared at Suicune, whose normal blue turned slightly into a tint of red. "You didn't think you could actually get away with that did you?" "Yes... Actually, we did," Raikou quickly replied, cutting off an open mouthed Suicune, "and just so you know, that only helps us understand the severity of the situation." Arceus gained a sinister smile. "So you admit to actually staying here in my hall after I specifically told you to leave?" Arceus snickered, "it's always better when you tell on yourselves." While laughter ensued, the shamed legendaries shrank back, allowing Entei to step up ahead of them.

"Listen Arceus, this is all fine and dandy, but we have a crisis brewing." "Is Shade a lugia?" Lugia inquired, "he looked like it." "Technically he's a spirit who was given the physical form of a shiny lugia as a result of an argument I and Giratina had back before even ancient Groudon and Kyogre screwed each other," Arceus explained, "although, that's what we all practically were at one point in time, so yeah, he would be an ancient lugia." "Wait, what did our 'ancestors' do?" Kyogre asked, "WHAT did they do?" "He didn't stutter, your ancestors fucked each other," Ho-Oh dully replied, "You know, one on top of the other? Maybe even went both ways all day and night..." "Please, what kind of conversation is this?" Mespirit interjected, "Celebi is in the room!" Somewhere there was probably a "who the fuck cared" in there, but the dominating voice was the one of Regigas. "ORDER, ORDER in this hall!" Regigas demanded, the three Regis backing it with ice beam, stomp, and flash cannon (how about you figure out which one, Regice, Regirock, or Registeel did acted on which one?), "we need to come together on this!"

Eventually things settled down, but obviously there was an newfound awkwardness between Kyogre and Groudon when Arceus failed to rebuke what Ho-Oh had said about ancestors they didn't realize they had. "Alright, now that everyone is settled," Arceus announced, "I think it may be best that we go ahead and go with Lugia's idea and just brief the trio leaders." "The heck!" Celebi protested, "I was just starting to enjoy this!" Stares from all of the legendaries, even Lugia, silenced the green fairy pokémon as it tried to shrink into the background. Arceus, after turning back towards the assembly, regained the attention of those present. "Rayquaza not being present will make things complicated, but each of you need to secure your realms; last time Shade tried to incite Revolution simply by inciting the, at the time, inferior humans into rage that they, more or less, were unable to do anything about their status in the world. Now the shell may be on the other turtle, and the pokémon of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Orre, and even here in Sinnoh may be willing to fight to regain the status their ancestors lost..."

"So, technically Shade won last time?" Lugia inquired. "Technically, yes, but since I, Reshiram, Zekrom, Dialga, and Palkia managed to defeat the ancient legendaries who had sided with Shade and Giratina," Arceus reassured the group, "don't worry, we got rid of ANYTHING and ANYONE that presented a threat... Or at least we thought we did." "Yes, and because you failed to wipe everything from the past, humans have decided to not only get freaky with pokémon, but they are capturing them," Kyogre commented, "of course, and they're targeting legendaries, using some relics to bring us to light." "Well, thank goodness that is all over right?" Arceus joked, "remember when Rayquaza had to intervene in Ever Grande City or else Hoenn would have been in quite the rut?" "Yes, we remember..." Groudon and Kyogre groaned in unison. "And then when Lugia got captured on the way here the last major meeting we had?" Arceus continued, chuckling growing into laughter, "I swear, to see you in black almost made my heart stop!" "Let me guess, you had a flashback?" Regigas jeered, "seeing your latest flashback when Shade changed colors..." "Shut your trap Regigas!" Arceus suddenly snapped, his happy turning to anger, "your lucky I don't bring up _your _recent misfortunes!" "I dare you," Regigas challenged, "in recent memory, the only blunder I made was to get involved in that nasty event at that temple." "I know what you did when you thought no one was looking." That seemed to silence Regigas, at least for a little while.

"Now, if there don't seem to be anyone else wanting to interrupt, I would like to make it clear that our first and foremost objective is to secure our realms," Arceus continued after clearing his throat, " we cannot allow Shade to get a foothold anywhere." "What about Orre?" Lugia pointed out, "on Citidark Island? I think that is where he has made base for now." "What about Orre?" Arceus scoffed, "there are hardly enough wild pokémon there for there to be a significant threat if it comes down to numbers." "Yeah but, that's a whole region filled with trainers and colosseums!" Ho-Oh argued, "we can't just let it be!" "Yes, we can and we will!" Arceus proclaimed, "now, disperse! From this moment onwards you shall refer to me as 'lord', 'liege', or 'general'!" He then gave a special look towards Lugia and Suicune. "And no sass, is that understood?" Wishing to avoid a verbal slipup, they nodded eagerly, and Arceus dismissed them and departed.

"Watch it!" Agron shouted angrily at Emperion as the two continue digging, "this would be so much easier if he had just hitched a damn ship to Hoenn!" "Well excuse me for not wanting to get stuck in Orre!" I retorted, "and we all know that we don't wanna get back there!" Agron grumbled in agreement, then continued digging. Suddenly, I heard the sounds of digging from above. "Emperion!" I shouted when out of nowhere a Rhyperior appeared from above. Before Emperion could react, the Ryhperior made a swift swipe and knocked the sense out of Emperion. Agron, having more time to react, charged the Rhyperior, nearly knocking it on its feet. As I reached onto my party belt, I was ready to release Katty when I suddenly felt sleepy. As I stumbled, the last thing I clearly saw before landing on the ground was Agron being pinned down by the Ryhperior, and a red jacketed guy smiling over my soon to be unconscious body...

"Alright my birds, we have a mission!" Shade announced, debriefing the legendary trio, pacing the space in front of them, "the three of you are well acquainted with this side of Orre yes?" "Our time as Shadow pokémon here helped, but yeah," Molten answered, "I hear they only just recently finished snagging the last of em and purifying them." "Took them long enough," Arctic snorted, "yeesh, I was beginning to wonder if they would ever catch them all." "Blah, what do you need us to do?" Zap asked, ignoring the side conversation, which ironically enoughs stopped as soon as he spoke. "I need you to go around the region and... Inform the masses," Shade ordered, "I want every trainer's pokémon to know exactly what the Revolution is not only about, but also what's going to happen once we win." "But they will listen to their trainers," Molten replied, "I don't think we will be able to get through to them." Shade chuckled evilly. "You see, that's the thing; the Orre region is not only the most advanced region in the world of humans, it also happens to be the only place where they can mass produce weapons capable of hindering our takeover of the region." "So how are you going to deal with that situation?" Zap pondered, "sounds like a major issue. I've been shot before in the wing; it wasn't pleasant." "Don't remind us," Molten pleaded, rolling his eyes, "although he does bring up a good point." "I need to sharpen both my skills and my... Teeth," Shade answered, "I myself will take care of their factories; Giratina is already out converting the wild ones to our side."

"Converting?" "Once they believe in the cause, they receive a little piece of the power, and become capable of telecommunicating with us via Shauara; their appearance may change, as their personalities, but all in all, they will feel as if they belong in our army." "And they do?" Molten suggested. "Precisely," Shade concluded, "your job is to target the majority at this point; the domesticated pokémon." "Do you think Arceus will send Ho-Oh and Lugia after us?" Arctic asked. "No, he'll be too busy trying to keep Giratina's hall inaccessible," Shade reassured them, "he probably ordered all of them to NOT come to Orre." "His mistake," Giratina telepathically dictated, "it won't be long until we are ready to attack! Our gathering spot shall be Libra!" "Is there enough water there?" Shade asked, " and food?" "Let me take care of that Shade, and **I **will ensure that your armies are ready!" Giratina answered, "you just make sure the humans are ripe for the picking." Shade chuckles, then concludes, "Alright then, Shade out." "**Rita** out," Giratina replied, testing out the nickname she picked out for herself, "hm, I guess it has a nice ring to it; and Shade, don't forget to save a spot for me, alright?" The trio were confused about the last statement, but Shade merely shrugged and waved the birds off. Shade takes one final look at the former air base of Cipher, then flies off towards the mainland of Orre.

"Miss us?" I heard a oddly placed female voice asked endearingly, "because I know I missed you." "Well, traveling from Orre to Hoenn, back to Orre, then to Johto, Kanto, back to Orre, and then to Sinnoh definitely made me stronger," the voice of Agron replied, "I see you have evolved twice since we last saw each other." "I could say the same for you." "Ryhperior, you don't still have a thing for me do you?" "Oh come on, even after all this time you haven't changed your mind about us?" "I've been thinking on it, but I don't really it would work with our trainer's occupations and such..." "But they used to be such good friends... Not to mention the fact that Jack still owes us for leaving Orre without so much as a good-bye and good luck!" "Well, the situation was tense, the authorities were on to us; we couldn't let them get a face confirmation or else we would have been wanted in Hoenn AND Sinnoh too."

My vision began regaining its light, and the shape of some black boots appeared before me, tapping lightly. As I looked up the desert cameo pants, I could see that red jacket again, but this time a face to match it. "Look who's finally awake," the man snickered, "long time no see eh Jack?" I never thought people from Orre would catch up with me; more importantly, I would have never suspected that those certain people would be Team Snagem. "Well John, I guess it was only a matter of time," I said in a muffled tone, surprised by my own inability to speak well. It was at this point that I realized they had covered my mouth with some red cloth; oh how I was hoping the standards for prison-ware had changed. "Don't worry, you will be talking soon enough," he said, leaning back and petting what looked to be a gloomy, "we're almost home."

Every curse in the book came to mind at the thought of returning home. Nearly eight years ago I had ditched Orre in order to challenge the pokémon leagues; and of course, to get away from my troubles. Now it was all coming back to haunt me. "So Agron, seeing as your trainer will be.. Tied up for awhile," Rhyperior inquired, "maybe we can hang out sometimes?" "Alone?" Agron asked with a notable sense of interest. "Yeah, no," another voice shouted from somewhere behind me, "if we left the two of you alone I'm sure we'd have to open a daycare before we make our comeback." Ah, the comeback, they had been dreaming of it for quite awhile now. Ever since a certain someone ran off with the portable snag machine, Team Snagem has been forced to try to recuperate, since said traitor also blew to bits the larger snag machines.

As I realized I was tied up quite nicely, loops all over my body so that the only thing I could hope to do was roll and do the worm, I decided I might as well ask the endearing question now. "So what is Gonzap going to do to me when we get back to the base?" I asked, chin on the metal floor, "and why can I hardly see much at all?" "Yeah, apparently gloomy's sleep powder hasn't completely worn off yet," John suggested, surprising me by his ability to understand my muffle-talk, "and to be honest, I don't think Gonzap is going to do anything to you as long as you hand over the snag balls." "What snag balls?" I asked innocently, "been awhile since I've heard that term." "Yeah, special pokéballs that allow you 'snag' pokémon from other trainers, completely rendering the original trainer's pokéball for that pokémon useless." "Nifty, but none of those have been made since the explosion," I argued, "so why would I, who didn't even become an official member till after the fact, have any?" "Because you stole the portable snag machine from our team who stole it from some kid, then you freaking disappeared without a trace, then returned to the base claiming to have found it," John explained, "now, if anything, I'd say it adds up you were doing some free converting." "You have no evidence." "Unlike the man in white and blue, we don't need evidence to execute." "Don't you mean persecute?" "No, I don't, so just hand over those snag balls and we will let you go; you have my word."

I may have trusted John to an extent, but I didn't trust Gonzap; not after a certain incident broke that trust. After all of this time, I began wondering why they even bothered attempting to chase glory; after all, twenty snag balls was not going to bring them back their glory. But I knew what would. "How about we make an agreement?" I suggested, "how about you let my party and I go, and we will go get your snag machine back." "Why does that sound familiar?" the voice up front grumbled, "why does that sound soo familiar?" Because I had used a very similar tactic the last time I needed to escape the wrath of Snagem. Technically I fulfilled it, but not exactly the way they wanted me to. "We went through your stuff, and all you have are regular pokeballs on you," John noted aloud, "where are the snag balls? Did you use them all?" "I couldn't carry that kind of contraband on me all over Sinnoh!" I exclaimed, "surely you know that I stashed them somewhere safe before setting off?" "Where?" John demanded to know, "where did you hide, or stash, those snag balls?" "In the one place you wouldn't look," I chuckled, mostly to myself.

There was a silence, with only the gentle hum of the engine filling the gap. By this point I noticed two windows, each rectangular in shape, that suddenly stopped letting a lot of sunlight in. "We're there already?" John said in surprise, "I thought we still had another few hours to go." "Yeah, we're passing by Citidark Island," our pilot informed us, "so you might as well prepare for anything. This island still gives me the creeps." Agron and Rhyperior physically tensed up in apprehension. My pokeballs were going crazy too, as was every other occupied pokéball in the entire ship. "What's going on?" John demanded, "what is with our pokémon?" By this point, we were suddenly jostled, and I was roughly thrown practically into Agron's lap. Swiftly he undid my restraints and muzzler, and just as the threat of a small battle inside the spacious ship seemed likely, we were outright shoved to the left. "Hang on to something!" I shouted as we began tipping over, the red and white wing-like appendage appearing into view. I saw the dark soil of what I knew to be Citidark Island, and as it began getting closer, I realized we had not only been knocked out of flight pattern, we had been outright shot down!

"What the?" Zap murmured as he saw a red and white ship begin falling towards the island base. Shaped like a large storage container, were it not for the two round hover, things, that seemed to hold the vehicle both in the air and provide forward thrust and the two wings that jutted out from the sides of the vehicle. Nonetheless, as it fell into the island, a telepathic message suddenly came in. _""Alright Zapdos, I'm making easy work of these factories; apparently they weren't expecting an attack by the lack of trainers around. What is the status on your end?"_Shade inquired, _have Molten and Arctic already checked back in? No, but Giratina... err, Rita, just shot down an Orre ship near the island, _Zap replied, _not sure whether to head over and check it out or keep my position. Hold your position, _Shade ordered, _we cannot afford for my armies not to see you on top of the lighthouse. But what if humans spot me? _Zap countered._ They can spot you all they want, just do not let them catch you, _Shade snickered, _make those legendary hungry trainers drool over your shiny appearance, and trust me, they will soon want to get away from you. _Zap snickered over the, for now, inside joke, and nodded. Upon remembering that Shade was telepathically communicating with him, and that would mean Shade could not see a nod, Zap replied, _Roger that, holding position until further notice._

Upon Zap finishing his little bit, Shade returned to the absolute slaughter that were the helpless machines that he mercilessly destroyed with burst of Shauara and hydro cannon. Most of the workers were either dead, dying, or fleeing, though they wouldn't make it far as Shade had gathered a large group of wild pokémon to prevent escape. They were also there to forewarn him if trainers were on the way. The final functional building that he wanted to destroy just happened to be the largest as well, with the toughest armor and greatest amounts of billowing smoke. Shade smiled, for even this factory had a fatal weakness, a weakness shared amongst many non-tower structures of the land. He flew high up into the air, and then, spotting the flattest part, slammed down hard onto the ceiling. Upon breaking through and landing, the entire factory's area began shaking, and before long began falling in on itself.

Shade, pleased with a successful earthquake, yet irritated because the impacts had caused his feet to ring, could already hear the cheers of those outside. The energy weapons, the vehicles, everything, all forms of this production had been either halted or at least greatly hindered. Shade looked into the now clear sky, the factory collapsing around rather than on top of him. "I still got it," he snickered briefly as he began rising into the air again. Step two was already underway; unfortunately, step three would have to wait until he paid a very special visit to a very special forest, one of the few forests in the easy to access (at least, it's considered easy to access by Orre citizens who can't fly anywhere) areas of Orre. "Agate Village... It's been quite awhile," he snickered, eager to force Celebi into appearing and making the greatest time traveler his greatest asset.

The landing had been rough; that could go without saying considering how far up we were. Luckily, we didn't land either in the strangely calm water or the jagged rocks, but landing right in front of the main cave entrance did not exactly fit my cup of tea either. We pretty much was at the mouth of the lion's den, and the lion was most certainly home. "Everyone alright?" Agron asked in a muffled tone, "say something if you are." "I'm alright," Rhyperior, John, and various others said, "we'll live." "Hey, where is my team?" I demanded, as I realized I was on rock instead of metal. The back of the ship was completely opened, hatch and everything, and I could see Keniblaze, Katty, Cambrai, and pokémon not belonging to me coming around all over the entrance. I staggered to my feet, felt the pain in my left foot, and hobbled over to my team. Each of them had in their possession their own pokeballs, conveniently enough, and greeted me upon my arrival. "Keniblaze, what happened?" I asked my Hoenn starter.

Aside from Agron, who I managed to catch here in Orre as an aron, Keniblaze was a veteran party member, being the second pokémon added to my arsenal when I fled to Hoenn. His innate ability that countered Agron's wit and charm was probably his skill in aura, which, to be honest, baffled me beyond belief. However, his aura would come in handy if I wanted to know what shot us down.

"Our pokeballs just... Released us," Agron said, "every regular one that is." Two snag balls, designated merely by a small mark I made on the top of the ball, remained close. Meta and Katty probably didn't even know we had landed yet. I retrieved the two pokéballs, and was prepared to release them when suddenly a low growl could be heard. I froze, as did everything else around me, and as I slowly turned my head towards the source of the noise, I saw a large Giratina, towering over me and my team with an angry looking expression on its face.

The second it raised its foot, my life began flashing before my very eyes. From my humble beginnings in Phenac, when a corrupt mayor practically drove us all into oblivion with his ambitious plots, to the peaks of Sinnoh where I nearly got killed by a single misstep on snow. The first time I joined a criminal organization, Team Snagem, and the near death experience that came when that treasonous bastard Weston nearly blew me up when I was on my way down the elevator. Heck, even the flashing of when I almost lost my virginity... Wait, what the...

Roughly I landed on my stomach, splayed out on the hard igneous rock of Citidark Island. "Jack, we can't keep doing this," Emperion rasped, already back on his feet, "we need an exit strategy!" Although this was a fair assumption, I quickly rose to my feet and saw Giratina more focused on the Snagem members who had brought me here. I couldn't see John, but I feared that the mighty legendary might tear them all to pieces. "We have to save them!" I exclaimed, ready to rush over when Emperion roughly turned me around. "Jack, we have to get the hell off of this crater before that beasty comes at us!" Emperion shouted, "Agron is tunneling our way to the mainland!" It didn't sound like Agron at all to actually abandon anyone, in particular me, to dig a tunnel for anyone. I was about to comply when Keniblaze suddenly showed up.

"Jack, snap out of it!" he screeched, "if you don't we will all get eaten alive!" Now I was confused, and his image began fading. Suddenly wrapping around me were black tentacles, and the sinister laughter of some otherworldly being rang in my ears. "HELP!" I cried out as suddenly everything began going dark...

Gotcha! The human she had so expertly trapped now crumpled to the ground, almost as if dead. The empoleon screeched threateningly, as did the aggron, and the two together rushed towards her. Rita snickered at the bold, yet foolish, approach to fighting her. She released from her mouth a dragon pulse that quickly sent the empoleon scurrying. The aggron, however, seemed to charge right through the attack itself and make a decent slash towards her. A simple swipe of her foot sent the agon sprawling onto the ground. "This is pathetic.." Rita began when suddenly a notable pain actually emerged on her side. Forced into flinching, she turned on the direction of the attack when the pain returned to her backside. Without making another move, Rita emitted her compressed Shauara into a physical energy wave that sent her quarries flying. She soon realized who had actually been doing some damage; that blaziken. "He may be worth capturing..." Rita murmured to herself, "it seems he can use aura."

Keniblaze roughly landed on his back, but quickly recovered enough to dodge a bite from the Giratina. Now he was a target, and before long began channeling aura not into another aura sphere, but much rather to his eyes. The dark aura he witnessed the Giratina having seemed vaguely familiar as far as dark auras go, but Jack also having this same aura was new. "It must have done something to him..." Keniblaze murmured as he dodge yet another bite. Another compressed wave of aura would knock him in the water; the last place he wanted to be for obvious reasons. Although mostly red, his primarily bird species didn't have red and tan feathers for swimming, yet it wasn't necessarily for flying in the air either. By this point, Keniblaze leaped into the air on top of the Giratina, and seconds later leaped off once again, and upon landing made a mad dash towards the unconscious me and the rest of the recovering team.

Emperion was fully aware that first Agron and now Kenniblaze were beginning to steal his spotlight; even if Jack was unconcious, then at least Cambrai would tell the story of the who saved the day. And ever since he joined the party after getting knocked out of the game by Agron, at the time a powerful lairon, and then caught with a pokéball, he had been striving to outshine both of them. And he had succeeded when he took down Dragonite, who meteor smashed Kenniblaze and surfed Agron, at Victory Road. Ever since then he'd been in the spotlight, but naturally Agron had actively been taking action in regaining the position; thus private rivalry spread to practically the rest of the team. Only Meta and Jack remained either clueless or neutral in the situation, Kenniblaze and Katty siding with Agron while Cambrai decided to back Emperion.

Regardless, So passing an already on his haunches Agron and quickly scooped up my body and surrounded himself in an aqua jet. Prepared to leap into the ocean, he soon realized he had bigger problems as the Giratina fired off a thick black beam, missing both of us just by inches. However, it was aimed Keniblaze, who seemed to be the newest target, and soon Emperion realized there was only one way out of here with everyone still intact. "BACK TO THE SHIP!" Emperion ordered, dashing towards the damage vehicle with me in tow. "Wait!" Cambrai began until she was forced to follow as Agron and Keniblaze directed their attention towards the ship. "Oh no you don't!" Giratina shouted before leaping into the air. Emperion stopped in his tracks as the enormous pokémon crashed down on the ship, completely crushing it with its weight. "Crap," Emperion murmured, "we're stuck!" "HI HO, go Cambray!" a voice shouted, an umbreon appearing moments later. The umbreon wasted no time in crunching down on the unsuspecting Giratina as a large Kyogre ship appeared. "Get in if you wish to live!" The white haired man shouted, "if you can swim get your ass in the water!"

No arguments were made as the team rushed off, and as Agron hopped into the rather spacious Kyogre looking-ship, he noticed immediately there were two Snagem members, Rhyperior's occupied pokéball, and quite the room in the back of the vehicle. Ironically enough, where the head of the Kyogre was supposed to go seemed to be the hatch that allowed entry, and as Keniblaze entered, Cambrai hopped practically into Weston's lap. Weston returned his pokémon, then while confuse ray kept Giratina busy, Weston put the petal to the metal, sending the engines revving up and the tail pipes spitting out orange flames. The hatched closed as the vehicle began submerging, just in time too, for Giratina has snapped out of its confusion quite quickly. However, it obviously did not want to pursue them underwater, and soon flew back up the volcano.

It was a tighter fit than he imagined, primarily because that blaziken had rather awkwardly hopped in. It's feathered foot practically kicking him in the back of the head, Weston could not believe what had happened. Apparently excitement had returned to Orre. Safely below the depths, with no blips on radar, Weston asked, "So tell me, which one of you happens to know that trainer?" The empoleon was swimming closer to the surface, as obviously Jack couldn't breath underwater. "Weston, I'm shocked you don't recognize me," Agron retorted, "seriously, I know I was a lairon when you last saw me but come on..." "Ah, Agron!" Weston groaned, "if you're back, then that must mean that Jack is up to no good again. What region did he get exiled from this time?" "Actually, team Snagem decided to pay us a visit in the underground of Sinnoh," Agron explained, "I'm sure you can put two and two together at this point right?" Weston nodded; he most certainly could. A his blue gloves oddly enough seemed to blend in with the steering wheel, although the surrounding water didn't help much.

"How did you expand this so much?" Agron asked, amazed at the various barboach giving them dirty looks. "With money and of course, contacts," Weston replied, "so tell me, did you finally get out of that phase?" Agron nodded, and Weston smiled. "So tell me, how many have you plowed?" "Ahem," the blaziken coughed, "quite frankly, this conversation has yet to introduce us." "Where are his manners?" Cambray snickered, "this is Weston, the first hero of Orre and the proud trainer of yours truly." "Don't get a swell head, I bet I could still kick your butt in a Pokématch," Cambrai quickly threatened, "so don't start making Weston sound like such a great guy." "At least we cleaned up our act to save the entire region and maybe the world," Cambray countered, "what has your Jack done to clean his record?" The silence made a small smile creep onto Cambray's lips. "That's what I thought." Suddenly a scuffle had broken out, and it took Weston more than a few threats before the two eventually settled down.

His red hair catching much wind, Michel thoroughly enjoyed his visit to Agate Village. His eevee rested gently against his leg, and upon giving it a gentle rubdown, its fur suddenly stood on end. Immediately alarmed, Michel readied the ultra ball in his ball pouch when suddenly a shout was heard. Whipping around, Michel stared, mostly in disbelief, at an army of seemingly untamed pokémon were charging into the village via the wooden bridge at the entrance. Prepared to destroy the bridge and slow the advance, Michel was about to shout something when a lump was caught in his throat. Soaring in was none other than shadow lugia, whom he had released after purifying it! "How in the heck..." he started, his aura reader going crazy as what seemed to be an army of not just wild pokémon, but wild shadow pokémon invaded the city. Even eevee was open mouthed at the severity of the situation. "How did Cipher manage this right under our noses?" Michel asked to no one in particular as the sounds of trainers shouting in alarm sounded. Michel quickly realized that the shadow lugia wasn't at all interested in the buildings, and preferred to focus... On the pokémon center! "Son of a bitch is going to attack the pokécenter!" eevee grumbled much to the surprise of Michel, who had yet to hear any pokémon speak.

_Yeah, I realized that I did sort of change up the PoV pattern a bit, but there was a distinct reason for this. What was that reason? Well, I needed to get quite the information conveyed, not to mention this is all about to come round circle. Even by the end I still did not have a title, so... Yeah... _

**_Delighted Slice decided expertly added in the spacing (to avoid the wall of words) and noted some awkward wording here and there. Thanks Delited Slice!_**


	6. Chapter 5 'Reflection'

Chapter 5 " Reflection"

Suicune clawed deeply into the back of her ride across the ocean, more than hard enough to draw blood. Thankfully her claws by themselves were not large enough to cause serious damage, but Lugia certainly could feel it. "I don't think Arceus is going to be happy that you left Kanto practically defenseless against a possible attack from Shade..." "Shut it Suicune!" Lugia snarled viciously, "he can shove it where his personal spotlight fails to shine; I am going to see this lugia again whether he likes it or not." "Yeah, but when I said I wanted to come along, I didn't exactly expect you to outright defy Arceus like this!" Suicune exclaimed, eyes wandering down towards the too far from comfort sea level. "Please, I already know that he's on..." Lugia started until suddenly her telepathy got an urgent, yet weak plea, _EMERGENCY EMERGENCY! This is Celebi! Relic Forest and Agate Village are under attack! Coordinates to relic stone are as followed..._ Naturally Lugia was shocked that such a message had not reached her earlier, but it was clear that whoever was attacking had cleverly suppressed such messages so that they wouldn't transmit very far past Orre. Apparently Arceus' decision was not only predictable to the enemy, but also helpful to them. "Hang on Suicune, things are about to get warpy," Lugia warned as the coordinates began rushing into her head, "prepare to fight the second we land." Suicune looked at the endless expanse of blue below. "Land where?" Rather than answer, Lugia suddenly began vanishing, Suicune as well, and before long they both warped from the outskirts of the Orre sea zone.

"Alright then, that should do it," Weston said as he finished applying the last of the herbs, "now, all he needs to do is smell this and he will be fine." "Um, how will that help?" Emperion inquired, "we need him to wake up, not lose his lunch in his sleep." "He's not sleeping," Cambray corrected patiently, "he's probably in a state of unconsciousness due to that Giratina skillfully using some sort of confuse ray." "It merely extended its aura so it could easily project confusing projecting images to Jack's untrained mind," Keniblaze explained, "essentially, we will need more than a little bit of strong herb if this Giratina wants to retain control." "Listen, this doesn't change anything," John grumbled, "thanks for saving us and all, but it's still personal." "I understand," Weston chuckled, "you might as well leave; even Gonzap knows where the pokémon center in Gateon Port is." The Snagem members hesitantly look under the critical stare of Cambrai and Agron. "Any suggestions on reviving him then expert?" Emperion curtly asked, "well, do you?" "Yes, actually, but it will require some... Alone time with Jack," Keniblaze answered, "and if any of you barge in it will not work." Emperion voiced discontent, but Weston, Agron, and even Cambrai went along with the idea and departed, eventually dragging a resistant Emperion out with him. Keniblaze smiled to himself; if the Giratina really wanted to retain control it would have followed them; which it clearly did not do.

I was still trapped in the black tentacles that refused to release me, even after clearly their grip had been weakened. Upon awaking I would discover that it was because I was no longer on Citidark Island with my captor, but until then I was outright terrified. I couldn't move, speak, hear, and save for the darkness, couldn't see a thing. I could feel the cold chill of being in the recesses of a neglected part of my mind; my state of being. I know that sounds weird, but that is the best way I can describe my location, as I was certainly not in the physical world, and unless I have been misinformed, I wasn't in the spirit world either. It was the only explanation I could come up with then, and it's the only one I can think of now. Little by little, however, cracks of light began breaking through, and the smell of eleven herbs and spices tempted my heart. My mouth watered as the smell of cooking bird reached my nostrils, and the tentacles proved no match for my newfound strength found in the prospect of a nice, hot meal. I had had one prior to leaving for the Underground, but that was what seemed to be hours ago. Eventually, the tentacles decided against continuing to hold me, and release their grip as I began floating towards the aroma...

That is when I woke up. And that is when I could also notice the various herbs that, by themselves, smelled horrible, but mixed with the spices, the sizzling coming from the other side of the still swirling room appealed to my appetite. I shot up, the room coming to a halt. The walls were practically as white as a cloud, the ceiling matching save for its clearly smoother surface. The floor was carpeted, but the orange flames were, much more interesting, coming from Keniblaze, who appeared to be on fire. I leapt out of bed and approached him, overly tempted to take a bite of his probably tasty self when he stopped erupting flames and looked at me with eyes a complete shade of yellow. "Nice to see you still enjoy fried food," Keniblaze joked as his eyes returned to normal, "so, would you like to know what happened while you were out?" "Of course!" I replied, "why wouldn't I?" Keniblaze smiled, walked over to the dull wooden bed, and took a seat at its foot. He laid back, and then patted the spot next to him. I joined him, and on our backs we temporarily relished the peace and quiet. Eventually, Keniblaze began his narrative, starting with when I went down...

"Where is Suicune?" Ho-Oh asked, looking at a dog duo rather than trio, "didn't she come back with you two?" "Not that I recall," Entei said, "she said something about coming with Lugia." "They probably decided to have a little 'chat' about Shade," Raikou inferred, "you know, girl to girl kind of thing." Inwardly, the mere suggestion that Lugia would rather tell Suicune about her encounter with Shade angered Ho-Oh almost to the point of screeching, but she knew that she needed to conceal this from her two subordinates. "Well, in that case, we should go remind them of Arceus' orders." "But we would have to disobey orders in order to actually go 'remind' them," Entei cautioned Ho-Oh, already catching on to what she really meant, "Arceus strictly said..." "NEVERMIND WHAT HE SAID!" Ho-Oh screeched loudly, causing both Raikou and Entei both to wince, "We will go get them and make sure they make it back to Kanto and Johto safely!"

"Sounds fair," Raikou, oblivious to Ho-Oh's true intentions, agreed, "why should Suicune get all the action?" "You really need to get over that fetish with water types Raikou," Entei teased in an attempt to change the direction of the conversation, "one day it is going to drive you mad." "I don't know what your talking about," Raikou stated defensively, "that ONE time I came onto Suicune and you think I have a fetish?" "Kyogre didn't exactly appreciate your excitement," Entei snickered, "nor did Lugia..." "Lugia isn't a water type," Raikou corrected Entei, "and I think you're reading too much into this."

Already irritated with Suicune's treachery, Raikou and Entei going back and forth was going to drive her over the cliff if allowed to continue. "If I hear even a peep out of the two of you, I will give you all hot feet once again!" Ho-Oh threatened, "then how will you do your daily run through the region?" Entei and Raikou ceased speaking, and Ho-Oh chuckled to herself that, contrary to many legendries, her three were the ones who loved to not only run, but found running across an entire region on a daily basis quite enjoyable. "Alright then, how will we get there in a timely manner?" Entei asked, "because unless we want to show up there and they're already gone..." "Don't worry, getting to Orre is easier than you think," Ho-Oh assured Entei, "I'll show you two the secret traveling technique the ancients used." A small cheer erupted from Raikou at the thought of learning such a secret secret. Only the group masters or leaders were taught to use the paths that connected practically every region together, and Ho-Oh practically promised to show them!

Suicune soon materialized, but she was no longer on top of Lugia. However, as startled cries erupted from nearby, Suicune's eyes grew wide as she beheld the new Agate Village.

Agate Village had been attacked; that was clear by the burning trees, buildings, and corpses. Some army had literally ransacked the place, looting things from jewelry to pokémon from the homes and businesses of Agate. One whiff, and Suicune could catch the smell of terror, surprise still apparently, death, mortification, and... guilt? It was the last thing she expected to smell, but she noticed that the entrance to Agate's forest was blocked by a gaggle of pokémon. She caught only bits of their conversation.

"I... Did we really just do that?" "Yeah, the evidence is all over us..." "RAWR! Yeah baby, that is how it is done! On towards the next city!" "Man... They didn't stand a chance..." "Humph, this is only the beginning." "Why didn't Shade want us to enter the forest?" "He probably wanted to negotiate with Celebi himself." "Yo, watch your tail!" "You watch it!" "Calm down, I'm sure we will hear something soon..." And indeed they did, for no sooner had the kadabra said that did a loud explosion incur. A shockwave literally shook the very foundation she stood on, and before Suicune could react, another shockwave emitted, followed by a vicious roar. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, it seemed as if time began slowing down, and Suicune, knowing who came to this forest every now and again, prepared for a complete time stop.

Lugia had arrived precisely where she wanted to, but at the wrong time. Shade had already penetrated Relic Forest and was headed straight for the relic when Lugia arrived on the scene. Another misfortune, however, was that Celebi had come straight here after the meeting; and Lugia using her teleport to get here revealed to Shade not only her presence but also the exact location of Celebi (which he would have found out anyway by reaching the relic). By the time Shade actually reached them, Lugia and Celebi were prepared to fight Shade off. Or so they thought, until Shade summoned from a cloudless sky a powerful thunderbolt. This temporarily paralyzed Lugia, but because of her sudden, ungraceful fall, Celebi had been forced to reposition itself to avoid getting crushed. It was nearly a mistake, as Shade immediately attacked, jaws agape, the supposedly off guard Celebi. However, probably more out of instinct than battle tactics, Celebi temporarily froze all of the time within Relic Forest and, unintentionally, Agate Village.

Had Celebi not been so surprised at it's ability to potentially move both locations into a different time, it would have noticed that Shade didn't seem confused at all by the counter-attack. In fact, Shade had surrounded himself in a black aura, now clearly visible to even Celebi, and obviously prevented himself from being frozen in time. Thus, when his jaws clamped down on Celebi, and the slight crunching sounds were emitted, Lugia managed to ward off the paralysis to attack Shade, as it seemed Celebi's attack didn't affect her either for some reason. Shade nimbly dodged the attack, and with a single legendary wingbeat tried to ward off another oncoming attack.

Shade had not at all planned on getting the nasty plant pokémon into his mouth; in fact, he had hoped to whirl around and pin Celebi to the ground with his wing, since Celebi would have been expecting a bite attack. However, that didn't happen, because Celebi launched out a time freezing attack that almost got him. Lugia showing up had surprised him earlier, but his confuse ray made Lugia think she had been struck by a thunderbolt and paralyzed,. causing her to fall and nearly crush Celebi, opening it up for an attack. However, fully aware that it wouldn't last long as the psychic type would realize it was only tricked, he risked it. Celebi attempted to resist, so Shade figured it necessary to show it he meant business; and increased the pressure on the fairy creature. After what felt like a few bones snapping, the Celebi ceased moving; he knew it wasn't dead, or at least it wouldn't be for long, and now needed to get away from Lugia. Incapable of using his Shadow Hyper Beam, he would have to face Lugia wing to wing; and since she could use her sharp teeth and he couldn't, that was one fight he wanted to put off.

Desperate to evade the hydro pump that came from the bottom of his powerful gust, Shade chanced swallowing Celebi so he could launch a counter of the flame kind. Unfortunately, Celebi didn't go down as easily as he had hoped, because Celebi had suddenly grown a lot larger than when he chomped down on it; as a result, Celebi merely slithered down his throat, threatening to choke him if he didn't do something. When had celebis gotten so large that they could actually choke him? The question wouldn't be answered right then as the hydro pump hit him square in the face, knocking him from his airborne position and back onto the ground, crushing trees on his way down. Although the splinters were painful, the water did help him finish Celebi, and as he gasped for breath, Lugia was already upon him, jaws wide in a drive towards his exposed neck. With no time to charge, Shade instead built up aura in his mouth, then shot it almost point blank range at Lugia.

Lugia had gotten carried away when charging Shade, and she realized that the second a green aura sphere nailed her in the face. She was completely deflected, her head swinging back and hitting the ground moments before the rest of her did. Dazed, yet knowing full well where Shade probably still was, she gave a swift kick, to feel the satisfying thump that came with kicking someone in the head. She rolled, then got back to her feet, shook her head, and her vision zeroed in on a black, white, and green lugia clutching it's head. Shade then turned towards her, eyes glowing a rather nice lime green, and as the saying looks can kill came to mind, Lugia moved her head just in time as a line of trees precisely in line with where her head had been suddenly get blasted by an unseen force of wind. Shade rose, blinked, and his eyes returned to red, with a single black pupil. The green seen before on his arms vanished along with the white as the black and purple colors returned. Lugia launched a skillfully deployed psychic attack at Shade, striking him straight in the chest. The air clearly knocked from him, he fell back, and long before he could recover, Lugia was on top of him, her arms pinning his arms and tail restraining his. She was somewhat surprised at how proportionally similar in size, but was more concerned as she lunged for his neck, prepared to end this once and for all.

Celebi's cries for help rang throughout Shade's ears (as by now the nature of Shade's stomach contents would make the now inconveniently awake Celebi aware of its situation), and it's vine whip churned his stomach; all of which ended up preventing him from guarding against Lugia's psychic attack, and as a result come this close to death. With only one last trick up his sleeve, he exerted his own and Celebi's aura throughout his body, the two naturally conflicting with each other, yet the blend made it easier to manipulate, and released them both into Lugia. She stopped just centimeters from the center of his neck as suddenly she briefly flashed yellow, then froze. As Shade was about to blast his regular hyper beam directly into her face, Celebi's aura suddenly began affecting him too, and as he cursed having to directly come into contact with Celebi in order to use its power, a sudden flash of green flashed before his eyes; his very life, mostly the good moments, were passing before his very eyes almost as a movie slideshow would…

"Hm, I guess I better do something huh," I murmured as Keniblaze concluded with the story, Team Snagem is not going to be pleased that their rescue operation was endangered so." "Yeah, but you're missing the underlying issue," Keniblaze argued, "you need to do something about those snag balls." "As long as they're in the PC storage, they are safe..." "Eventually they can get the code out of you; they aren't above using pokémon as weapons, as you yourself know from experience." "What is that supposed to mean?" "You were once one of theirs, so you know how they operate; if force is necessary and Gonzap's fists don't do the job, some mind probing with psychic types is the next step." "Well, you and I both know why they can't have them." "But Jack, is it really worth putting yourself _and _everyone with you in peril for the sake of accomplishment?"

That sentence wouldn't leave me alone, even as Keniblaze rose from the bed and permitted everyone in. It had been nearly an hour of us just chatting, and Emperion quite frankly demanded to know what took so long. What was he, a jealous girlfriend? I avoided saying that out loud, but I could tell by Keniblaze's irritation that I probably wasn't the only one thinking such thoughts. "A giratina had control over Jack," Keniblaze explained, "it was no easy process reviving him." Emperion seemed content with such an answer (for now that is), as was Weston and Cambrai; but Agron was not so easily convinced. However, being the kind of pokémon he was, he decided not to push the issue; there were 'bigger rocks to push' as his saying goes. "Team Snagem will soon be swarming this place," Weston pointed out, "luckily we're in Gateon Port so there won't be anything fully blown out, but we should still relocate." "Your right..." I agreed, "we should get out of here ASAP." And as it was said, so it should be, as we made a bold attempt to leave the club/inn without being noticed. The attempt failed, for the second an aggron, empoleon, and infamous trainer stepped onto ground level, the piano abruptly ceased playing, and every eye turned towards us. Even if it meant making myself open to attack, I returned all of my pokémon save for Keniblaze. As a fighter, he could knock some heads without drawing blood if necessary, and the last thing I wanted to do was to put more blood on my team's heads. Weston soon began leading the way out, and the walk to the door seemed to take ages. The tension seemed to burn down to my very soul, but Keniblaze remained both calm and alert, turning moments before everyone else towards the large flat screen television near the stage.

"Onbs has got the news!" the reporter exclaimed, making my nervous self jump a few feet into the air, "Agate Village has been attacked!" "WHAT!" Weston exclaimed as he whirled around. Everyone else, now more interested in the TV now, also turned. Had it not been for Keniblaze's attention to the television, I would have taken that opportunity to dash right out of there. "A large group of loose pokémon seemed to have stormed Agate!" the reporter continued, "the attackers have been identified by their behavior as shadow pokémon, and the once proud retirement village has been nearly reduced to rubble by the assault! It is unclear the exact number of injured and dead, but the situation doesn't look good as escapees reach temporary safety at Mount Battle!" Murmurs of alarm and concern filtered through, and the tension shifted from me to the potential re-rise of Cipher. "Tragically, some survivors are still trapped in one of the caves underneath Eagun, the legendary trainer's home," the reporter continued, showing live footage, "legendary trainer Michel can also be seen here, and by the looks of it, those shadow pokémon were not playing around."

Images of the red haired hero of Orre depicted a kid that got the worse end of a couple punches and pounds, and several near lethal slashes. He was clearly unconscious, and his eevee, who was battered even further, didn't even move. His party belt was missing from his person, and dried blood stained his tan pants. Weston's eyes were glued to the television as the images splayed over the screen, showing how badly injured even more of the survivors were. Weston gritted his teeth as clear signs of futile efforts to save doomed trainers were taken by both pokémon and human alike, their grief filtering through the television like an aroma through the air. Tears welled up in many of the performer's eyes, but clearly anger showed in the trainers' eyes. I was the only exception, as I was personally more concerned with the saving of my own hide than with the misfortune of some random attack. Keniblaze stamped his foot, bringing everyone's attention towards us again. "I can't tell whether they're shadow pokémon or not, but if they think they can get away with this!" he shouted, "then they are WRONG!" Shouts of agreement rose as Keniblaze uncharacteristically stirred the crowd. "Attacking Agate was both a cowardly and sick attempt to show their so called power!" Keniblaze roared, agreements going all around, "we better show Cipher that just because they got their ass kicked by a kid, doesn't mean they can stoop this low!" Now the entire room was in an uproar, as shouts of agreement from man and beast filled the room, nearly destroying my ear drums. "This means war!" shouted Weston, getting caught up in the outrage, "they shall pay for this with their lives!" Blood curdling screams filled the air, and those of us with our heads still on our shoulders recoiled at the insanity.

Someone pulled out a pistol, shot it into the air, and shouted, "Time to show the other regions why we don't put up with wild pokémon attacks!" They all agreed, not realizing that just a minute ago they were cursing Cipher's name for the assault. "Call up everyone you can find!" "Round up a posse!" "We shall give death to these insurgents!" "Their blood shall flow like the water of the Phenac!" "Murdering scum will find their offspring raped, burned, and then raped again like the bitches their parents are!" Keniblaze, a fire lit in his eyes, swiftly turned to me and whispered, "Let's go while they are still screaming bloody murder." That clever bird had purposely gotten everyone riled up so that we could make a less awkward get away without losing either our virginity or heads for that matter. I agreed hastily, and the two of us snuck off as even Weston continued. Before I left, however, I skillfully employed a former skill of mine and "retrieved" Wes's bike keys from his pockets.

Their racket could be heard not because they were so loud (don't get me wrong, they were) but because many others were joining in both the streets and the other buildings. News spread fast in a world where the news actually bothered broadcasting information regarding the region's troubles rather than random rabble, not to mention E-mail spread it even faster. As I hopped into Weston's vehicle, his pickpocketed key in hand, I turned the engine, nodded to Keniblaze as he leaned back in the hovering attachment, propping his feet. I revved the engine, then set off on the road, glad to finally be mobile again.

By either some fluke or desire, I ended up stopping not too far from the bridge leading into what used to be Agate Village. It was still smoking, that was for sure, but there didn't seem to be any live fire. As I stepped out, I was about to walk when Keniblaze suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I was about to protest when Keniblaze growled, "Celebi's aura; clearly it stopped everything going on." "Then how were they going to get a news story?" I retorted. "Despite their claims, there is no way those people could have been here at the time broadcasting," Keniblaze noted, "in fact, if they were, they would have been mauled by those two fearsome electrikes." I had not noticed the frozen in space electrikes until Keniblaze pointed them out. "Well what do we do?" I asked, "I don't even know why we're here." "Because you know that there are legendary pokémon involved," the all-knowing Keniblaze retorted in irritation, "and you can't get over the prospect of losing Dialga because Ho-Oh intervened." He was right, I hadn't gotten over it; but then again, ask yourself honestly and truly if you would have been completely fine with that situation. Don't worry, I'll wait for you to either lie to yourself or admit that you would have taken it the same way if not to a greater degree of anger, frustration, and irritation.

Meanwhile, it what had seemed like hours, Lugia awoke first. Her entire body weary from holding her up so long, she collapsed onto Shade, producing a slight grunt from her enemy. Wary that he may very well strike her again with whatever that technique was Lugia extracted herself from Shade and reflected on the images that flashed before her eyes. Is that what it had been like for her ancestors as a lugia? The freedom to fly to whatever region they well chose without the threat of being reprimanded, the lack of responsibilities over a fiery bird and his mad brothers? Why couldn't she recall this prior to Celebi's aura "refreshing" her mind on it? As Lugia suddenly remembered Celebi, she turned towards Shade, where she could hear the muffled, dying cries for help. "Celebi!" Lugia shouted, weakly getting to her feet, "I'll get you out of there one way or another!"

Shade opened his own eyes as a feeling of nostalgia and desire washed over him. "I almost forgot what it was like before Arceus decided to become dictator..." Shade murmured, feeling his own Shauara receding. His black coloration was replaced with grey, and the purple became dark green. As Shade realized that he had been "purified" by Celebi, he cursed his lack of foresight for the consequences of his actions with aura mixing. Nonetheless, the pokémon didn't seem to resist him anymore, though he had quite the stomach ache... Wait, where was Lugia? Remembering that she had been practically on top of him when he last was conscious, Shade looked briefly around until he noticed Lugia rising to her feet. With more vigor, he rose to his own feet far faster, and would have tackled the suddenly sexy enemy had she not stared right down to his crotch.

Lugia could easily put two and two together, and it was clear that whatever Shade had seen in his "dream" apparently ranged from erotic to pornographic. Disturbing, but Lugia soon realized she may be able to use this to her advantage. In a quickly constructed plan to turn the tide, Lugia stared at Shade's manhood and scoffed, "That's it? I know for fact that Groudon was both thicker and longer than that!"

Pride temporarily shattered, Shade blushed profusely, at this point, covering himself with his wings. "Err, this is sort of embarrassing..." Before Shade could return to kill or be killed mode, Lugia rushed Shade and head butted his stomach. Already queazy since Lugia shattered his pride with her remark, Shade found himself regurgitating his latest meal; a green and brown hunk of sludge that fell to the forest floor with a thump. Knocked also off balance by the attack, Shade fell to the floor once again upon his back.

Lugia, finding it easier to concentrate if she focused on Celebi's wellbeing, rushed over to the puked pokémon and asked, "Are you okay?" Gentle humor gone, the pissed off time traveler spat, "What the hell do you think?" as it lifted its head from the disgusting pile of... puke, it hissed, "I'm already half eaten, exhausted, and absolutely drained of energy! I'm doing just fucking fine!" The sarcasm dripped from the last words much like the goo dripping from Celebi as it shakily rose to its feet. Lugia had never heard Celebi curse twice in a single conversation, and sharp sarcasm didn't seem a normal trait either. However, knowing that she couldn't finish both Shade and protect Celebi, Lugia teleported herself and Celebi to a safer location...

Shade cursed yet again as he struggled to at least sit up. That was, at the very least, humiliating. Not only did he get practically beaten and killed; he was nearly defeated by a non-aura user. Rita probably would have reprimanded him for such a close call. Then again, Lugia hadn't exactly played fair taking advantage of him while in his moment of weakness. On the other hand, he hadn't exactly played fair either using Celebi to break the memory barrier on Lugia, but that had not been intentional. Or maybe at the time it was intentional… Regardless, Shade thanked his conscious mind that he had ordered his armies to stay out of the forest; there was no way he would be able to show his face if any of them had seen him... Like that. He licked his lips, shivering as chills ran down his spine. He had certainly enjoyed remembering what life used to be like prior to the whole incident with Arceus...

Arctic and Molten were wide-eyed at the large gathering below. What used to be merely the wreckage of the S.S Libra had been converted into a massive oasis, with the Libra serving as a large housing area. "This is... Impressive," Molten exclaimed, "I would have never imagined that so many wild Orre pokémon could be gathered in one place..." "Don't forget brother, many of them are from other regions and were imported here for the coliseums!" Arctic reminded Molten, "there aren't that many actual natives in this gathering; Shade personally took most of them on the attack on Relic Forest." Molten nodded, then looked back down at the gathering.

The green that seemed to sprout from naught provided a comfortable setting for the pokémon down below, as trees that stood out of place seemed to dot the entire region. The Libra's impressive size shaded many of the less heat resistant pokémon from the scorching sun, and the once deep sands now seemed to be layered soil capable of supporting large amounts of plant life. The two bird brothers were perched on top of the Libra's main control center, a tattered pokéball flag waving in the wind. Clouds above also provided more shelter; the heavy clouds also were out of place. A few more creatures also began gathering, the ship a literal landmark that seemed to stick out of place. The oasis surrounding and composing it seemed to make it stand out even more than before.

A dark aura ominously surrounded the area as Rita made her appearance, suddenly descending from the above skies. Many of the gathered pokémon suddenly yelped in alarm as Rita landed in her Altered Form onto the Libra, in full view of most of the gathered assembly. "LEND ME YOUR EAR!" Rita shouted, "I have gathered you all here for a reason; all of you have experienced the injustice that is the human reign!" Shouts of wholehearted and halfhearted agreements rose; but Molten took special note that none dared to not shout in agreement at all. "Now is the time to change our fates!" Rita continued, "now is the time to restore the dignity that is ours! We have suffered the insidious humility of fearing for our very lives at the hands of the industrialized mankind who seems to have forgotten what brought them to power in the first place!" The resulting shouts nearly deafened Arctic, much to his surprise, even though he was at least several yards above them. "Those pokémon who forsake their origins and decided to become pets," Rita spat, "even fight every battle for this despicable species will either return to the light or go down with their masters!"

The next shout shook the entire ship, as even those within the ship roared. The shakingnearly forced Molten into flight, to avoid falling from his perch next to Arctic. "Our forces are already under Commander Shade, sending a warning message of the rest of this region's fate!" Rita triumphantly exclaimed, "this region shall be restored to its origins of fertile soils and prosperous population! Now, relish in the power and knowledge I bestow unto thee!" Rita produced a wicked smile as she released the Shauara into the riled up, angry hearts and minds of those below. She could already feel their response to the encouragement; they were relishing the feeling of strength and power that came with Shauara. Along with it, Rita also implanted images of what she personally remembered the world to be; a pokémon world ruled by pokémon... A world where she didn't have to plot and scheme for centuries just to take a breath of this world's air...

_If you think Shade and Lugia's battle seemed awkward towards the end of it… Well, first of all, it was meant to be awkward for the two of them, but it was difficult to put that in AND avoid the awkwardness of the readers as well. The entire scene originally was headed in another direction that probably would have been borderline on some points, but I realized it would be best to just plain change that section in general to keep it at the current rating that it is._


	7. Chapter 7 'Battlefield Orre'

Chapter 7

_Contrary to popular belief, there are many reasons to go to war, which include vengeance, freedom, obsession, greed, pride, desperation, wealth, power, and love. Surprisingly enough, the reason to go to war in the Pokémon world includes more than a few elements, which throughout the story have (and will) been (and be) revealed, as have other Pokémon war stories. _

_~Sorry for making you all wait so long for this chapter, got bogged down in various things. _

_Reminder disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its affiliated parts._

Suddenly, without warning, just as I spotted a Suicune, and readied a net ball, time resumed. The suicune suddenly whipped around, noticed me, and dashed off. "Son of a..." I cried in frustration before I was muffled by Keniblaze's wing. The electrikes were also coming back to life, and they looked at each other in confusion. "ENEMY reinforcements!" someone shouted, and as I looked up to the source of the disturbance, I saw a rather large fearow, cawing in alarm, "enemy reinforcements!" The electrikes quickly noticed my presence almost immediately thereafter, and as I readied to throw out the rest of my party, Keniblaze shouted, "Wait, we are not here to fight!" Oddly enough, the advancing electrikes stopped, and stared at Keniblaze. "Much rather, we are here to investigate," Keniblaze nervously shouted, "you see, what you have done here has yet to reach all of Orre (which I think was a lie) and we have come here as scouts." "Then run back and tell them that death awaits them all!" the electrike shouted fiercely, "tell them that the Liberation Army is ready to march!" Keniblaze nodded, and with little resistance from me backed away, back to our mode of transportation (Wes' bike) and escape vehicle. We mounted, revved the engine, and drove off, but not before I looked back to see the electrikes once again chatting with each other, probably over what just happened.

Ironically enough, Keniblaze next suggested that we go to Realgam Tower, and for some odd reason, I actually drove us there too. The entire tower, much to my surprise, was not in a state of alert, and much rather seemed calm. The normal buzz of music filled the air as we came to a stop at the front entrance. Immediately men in suits came rushing at us, pointing what seemed to be pokéballs at us. "If you are not here to battle or do battle sims, we request that you leave," one of them announced, "right now a tournament is going on." "But we need to send a message out to everyone in Orre!" I protested, "and although ONBS does a good job, if they are not watching the right channel, they will miss it." "What is the message?" the other asked, "besides the fact that you face looks rather familiar..." I gave them no chance to recognize me, and as fast as possible revved the engine once more, then put it into high gear as we shot back off into the desert.

This time, I made the suggestions. Pyrite Town was our next destination, and as I arrived, I quickly realized that we should have come here in the first place. Apparently soldiers in jumpsuits ran around carrying shotguns and modern day rifles, all color camouflaged to match the desert environment. It was the National Guard. Upon spotting us, they immediately demanded both my trainer ID and registration number for Keniblaze. I delivered the latter easily, but the former would immediately identify me as an outlaw. Keniblaze, as usual lately, intervened, and after some rifling through my bags produced my trainer card. The troops didn't seem bothered; in fact, they were rather relieved, and ordered me to ONBS for debriefing.

The town of earth, wind, and money hadn't changed much; it still smelled of criminals, the ground was pretty much shingles, and the buildings had a rundown look about them. This was where I had first met Wes, and as a result, Team Snagem near the coliseum.

Wes had managed to successfully snag a large amount of pokémon, and with his crew of the day, he approached me next. I was just a kid at the time; he was at least five years my senior and I only had one pokémon named Agron. Wes personally promised not to snag my pokémon if it was pathetic, and with my choices being battle or a bloody nose, I chose battle. I performed surprisingly well against his two eevee, but once he brought out his recently snagged pupitar, things went down under. Literally, for the pupitar used dig just twice before Agron was finally downed. The crew laughed me down, and Wes chuckled, jeering, "You'd best get some better pokémon before you even head in this direction again!" As hurtful as it was, it did encourage me to join team snagem, if only to snag other people's pokémon. I wouldn't get in till years later, but hey, inspiration had to start somewhere right?

Snapping out of my flashback, I decisively stepped through the air condition opening. Gathered all around were thugs, villains, foreigners, and even pro trainers all gathered in the same place, chatting. "I hear Agate Village when down a few hours ago..." "Man, I can't believe this is happening..." "You think Snagem has something to do with it?" "Probably not, heard Wes is already on his way here." That last comment kept me moving through the crowd, who didn't seem to care much about my rude presence through their masses. Eventually I reached the top floor, and there I found some guy named Ness. "Jack, I assume?" Ness said, turning around in his clearly labeled chair mounted to the floor of the set, "I haven't seen you around these parts in ages." "You seem to be doing fine," I said, but before I could continue Keniblaze interrupted. "Listen, we don't have time for idle chat; an army is preparing to take over Orre!" Keniblaze shouted, "not only that, I think they have kidnapped Celebi!"

Gasps went around, microphones dropped, and apparently someone wet themselves judging by the dripping sound. "Celebi?" Ness said, suddenly alarmed, "this is a problem." "Return, Keniblaze," I growled irritably, and Keniblaze promptly returned to his pokéballs. "Now listen, why is the military getting involved?" I asked, "it seems you have known about an army long enough..." "The industrial center was completely destroyed," Ness explained, "the military has been mobilizing in Phenac and Pyrite so that we can concentrate our man and poké power to counter this sudden uprising." "It isn't an uprising," I argued, "I heard some banter in Gateon Port; this could lead to war." "War with a bunch of pokémon?" a cameraman joked, "yeah right, pokémon couldn't organize themselves into an army capable of taking down tanks and guns." "You would be quite surprised..." I murmured. The discussion continued, however, as conflicting information and views made an attempt to make sense of what was going on...

"So you have wished it..." a voice whispered, "and so it shall be." Arceus stared from his Hall down upon the massing army in Orre via a cliché' crystal ball. "Arceus!" someone shouted, "Lugia and Celebi have arrived! They are injured!" Arceus immediately bounded over to the duo, who had injuries running rampant about them. "What happened?" Arceus demanded, his attention previously being primarily on the Libra army, "when and how?" "I and Suicune went to Orre to backup Celebi when Shade turned the tables on us," Lugia explained, "essentially, Celebi is too weak and..." "Where is Suicune?" Regigas inquired, "you didn't leave her there did you?" "I had to get Celebi out, or risk having it eaten by Shade!" Lugia said in her defense, "I think that you not all out assaulting them with all of us together may have been a mistake." Regigas huffed in a 'told you so' manner, but Arceus would not be deterred from the matter at hand.

A single whiff of Celebi told a story Arceus had hoped he would never be told smelling one of his legendries. "Did... Did you get half eaten?" Arceus inquired, "it sure does smell like it." "Yes I freaking did!" Celebi exclaimed, making all but Arceus jump slightly, "what do you think happens when you get swallowed by a black lugia?" "Now hold on a second, let's not get irate," Arceus warned, "I know you are upset, but remember where you are and who you are speaking to." Lugia's eyes widened, as if a revelation suddenly came to her, but returned to normal when Arceus shot her a look. "So tell me Lugia, where is Suicune now?" "Shouldn't you know that?" "I beg your pardon?" "God almighty, the creator has no idea where Suicune is... What a shame." "Watch it Lugia..." "Or else? Or else WHAT?"

Celebi had been earlier enraged, but now was intrigued in childish confusion once again, as Lugia and Arceus fiercely stared each other down. "What happened during the fight?" Arceus demanded, "and don't lie to me." "I ended up fighting an ancient power who seems to know more about what he is doing than you," Lugia hissed, "and is at least a bit more honest." "But you don't even KNOW him!" Arceus shouted, "How would you even know?" Lugia turned her head, anger written over her face. By this point, Arceus began connecting the dots. "Celebi, did you ever go unconscious?" "Yes... But I don't know what that has to do with..." Celebi started until Arceus growled. "So tell me... Anything else you want to reminisce on?" Before Lugia could respond, Arceus suddenly focuses his aura into his eyes, and through eye contact, deploys it into Lugia's eyes. Suddenly, as if looking confused, Lugia hesitantly responds, "No... None." Arceus nods, then says, "Alright then Lugia, you are dismissed; head straight back to Kanto this time alright?" Lugia nodded, and then took off for flight, leaving a still confused Celebi alone with Arceus.

"CHAAAAAAAAARGE!" shouted Rita as the infamous Phenac City came into view. Already taking notice of the various vehicles and weapons that were saved from the industrial sectors or already within Orrian hands, Rita prepared to launch out an attack towards the city. Her charging army, hesitantly at first, but slowly growing in both confidence and momentum, advanced upon the city, already having it surrounded, destroying any stray vehicles that had not been rushed into the city at first sighting. The second they were in range, the weapons began open firing, covering the air in sound as shots rang out, striking leading rushers and downing flying bombers as they advanced. The army, at this point enraged that their fellows were falling prey at such a distance, suddenly began exuding dark auras, and fewer and fewer of them dropped, and more and more dark aura became visible, almost to the extent where it seemed as if a giant wave of darkness was descending upon the city.

Alarms were ringing loudly by this point, but they rang in vain as Rita finally released, at full strength, a powerful dragon pulse that, upon contact with the fountain near the heart of the city, completely spread out in a powerful wave that, as far as living things were concerned, bluntly whacked at them. However, the walls to the city, not built to withstand attacks from the inside, suddenly rocked, then began crumbling to the ground, the fortifications and gunner turrets collapsing with them. Amidst the yowls, bright lights suddenly shined throughout the city, as trainers readied themselves for battle as they summoned their entire parties. "Kill them all!" Rita shouted in glee as the army finally reached the outer walls, the water spilled in the process soaking into the ground. The water stopped flowing, however, once the walls fell, probably from an emergency shutoff or something, and the fountain ceased producing water as the army streamed in, confronted by bullets, flamethrowers, hydro cannons, and the works. Rita herself ascended into the ensuing air battle, as currently the enemy possessed notably more air power than they.

Meanwhile, Mount Battle found itself also under attack. However, unlike Rita's diverse army, primarily fire and flying types were a part of this assault, as a shadow lugia led the way throughout. However, while the main troops were fighting throughout the volcano and of course the "challenge" area, Shade was occupied facing off with Ho-Oh, Entei, and Raikou. It was no easy task, as he was not fully recovered from his fight with Lugia, but nonetheless he put up a match as his specialty, water techniques, came in quite the handy against the fiery Ho-oh and one of her sidekicks, the volcano dog. Dodging a Sacred Fire, Shade unleashed a one final hydro cannon against a startled Ho-Oh, whom had not expected Shade to actually dodge the attack once more. The attack struck true, and before the bird could fall into the lava, Entei, with its teeth, grabbed a part of Ho-Oh's wing. Shade descended, helped Entei put Ho-Oh on stable ground, then nearly stomped Entei into the ground. Fighting a creature not even half his size was harder than he imagined, and as a result did not notice Raikou positioning himself on a cliff not far from the chase. "NOW!" Entei shouted as it dodged yet another stomp from Shade, who unwittingly was weakening the rock formation they stood on.

Raikou channeled electricity through its body, became enshrouded in it, and the second Entei said "now", Raikou leaped from the cliff, the electricity surrounding it becoming ever more fierce as it approached Shade, who now had Entei cornered.

Entei now could easily be stomped, as there was nowhere left to run; unfortunately, the sound of chirping birds alerted Shade to the rather large, and still growing, ball of lightning that came charging down at him. Using psychic, Shade picked up an unsuspecting Entei, and prior to coming within contact, Shade hurled the struggling Entei towards Raikou's volt tackle. "Wait, stop!" Entei screamed, but it was far too late as the legendary dogs made a smacking contact with each other. Upon the two landing on the ground, smoke rose from Entei, who had been shocked into a state of battle inability, and Raikou struggled to its feet, somewhat dazed by the actual impact itself rather than the electrical power transferred through it.

Leaving no time for recuperation, Shade stretched out his wings and rushed the fallen, taking both Raikou and Entei into his wings. Ho-Oh began to stir, cawing slightly, and raised its head up just enough to see Shade teleport Entei and Raikou away. Ho-Oh fiercely screeched, forcing Shade off of his balance, and tackled the legendary. Right off of the platform and down towards the sea of lava that bubbled and boiled below, the rock formation they had been standing on collapsing around them...

Meanwhile, news of Phenac's attack reached Pyrite; but those news became unimportant as, from the large, seemingly bottomless ravine that split the main part of town from the Coliseum and the city's former mining affiliations, emerged ground type pokémon, followed by steel and rock types. The surprise attack effectively made the coliseum a lost cause, and before long it became a gathering area for the invaders. However, unlike Phenac, Pyrite was not surrounded, and as we the trainers managed to force the attackers to the other side of the bridge, Wes and practically everyone else from Gateon Port arrived in a convoy of five hover trucks. Their arrival raised spirits, but with the constant threat of attacks from below, the lighter mood dissipated rapidly. That, and of course, Wes demanded to know what the heck I was thinking making off with his bike.

"What in the hell man?" Wes growled, "you can't just be making off with peoples bikes!" "I didn't!" I argued, " I 'borrowed' it to go to Agate." My reasoning wasn't enough, because the next thing I knew, we were in a brawling fist fight that eventually was broken up by soldiers. The two of us were then ordered to keep our distances from each other; one more incident between the two of us and we were BOTH going to be used as bait to lure the pokémon from the coliseum.

Since there had been trainers in the coliseum itself, and of course pokémon there too, it was easy to deduce that said creatures surrendered promptly to the invaders. However, apparently the order wasn't to kill everyone here, because I actually saw quite a few defectors among the eager standoff forces. As long as they did not find a way around our defensive line, we could eventually force them to attack us, which would mean that we would have the advantage. Standing so close to the ravine made me dizzy, as heights had never been something I was completely accustomed to. "Well, aren't you going to release your pokémon?" some 'pro' trainer asked, "I mean, they could attack any minute." "Until then, no need to let them know exactly what they are facing off with," I countered, "in case you didn't notice, this standoff might be going on for a while." The trainer didn't say anything else, and focused his attention back on the other side of the ravine. The group on the other side had actually started camping, knowing that a single flame thrower thrown by either side would start a brutal conflict that, as ground types, would put them in a favorable situation. Of course, if we launched water gun or hydro pump, the effect would likely be the same, but at least they would have to worry quite a bit about dodging the attack rather than tanking it.

Wes was the only one here that I can honestly say I recognized. I didn't have a large circle of I know you's, but I was surprised that many trainers from other regions had were not here for whatever tournament was going on. The second the thought crossed my mind, I realized that most trainers WOULD be at the Realgm Tower, taking part in the tournament. Had I not driven off so fast, I would have realized that, and put my status in greater risk by insisting on getting the news spread. But now, that opportunity was gone; there were too many people and pokémon surrounding me to allow me to get back to the entrance of town. However, my thoughts changed direction at the sound of screeching, a sound I was slowly beginning to get accustomed to. Every head, and all eyes turned in the direction of the glowing fire bird that emerged from the Coliseum. "Moltres!" I exclaimed in alarm, as did many others, as the bird perched itself comfortably on top of the coliseum's dome, in full view of practically everyone in town.

Molten felt somewhat uneasy commanding such a large force; indeed, he was surprised that Shade had managed to recruit so many so fast, but there was no arguing that his judgment in appointing him the general of these forces may have been misplaced. Molten worked better taking orders rather than giving them, despite his willingness to challenge the orders if they seemed out of order. Nonetheless, it was his job to destroy ONBS, the major communications network that spread the news of their attack so quickly. The army at Agate was digging into the city, rebuilding it and fortifying it, as at all costs the way to the Relic Stone needed to be blocked. Why wasn't it destroyed? Apparently Shade wanted his forces to be capable of 'defusing' and remembering the former respect they used to have towards humanity after the war, since he didn't personally want to exterminate them.

However, based on what he had heard about Phenac, Rita was on a different agenda, literally targeting trainers and non-trainers alike. There would be no prisoners of war save for pokémon deemed worthy; and any who remain to fight by their living and dead trainers were not deemed worthy. The stubborn population apparently couldn't figure out that Rita was not going to just let them bury their trainers; in fact, if they were lucky, there would still be pieces left to bury. Molten shuddered at Rita's method; she was really taking things to the extreme. He hoped that Shade could convince her to cool it just a bit, since excessive bloodshed might actually make their cause seem less noble than it really was. And of course, there was Eclo Canyon, which had yet to be secured, and if they continued pushing the way they were, it would emerge as a blind spot in their offensive.

But how to attack the gathered group of trainers? It was clear that rushing across the bridge was suicide for either side, for obvious reasons, and starting a projectile fight across the gorge seemed to be out of the question, although it would be an easier way to fight. In his short mindedness, Shade failed to equip Molten with any type of strategy for taking Pyrite. Molten sighed. Despite all of this, he still had a responsibility; he needed to lead these troopers into taking the roughest human city in all of Orre. Eventually, Molten began scanning the crowd, searching for either a source of weakness or at least someone familiar. Finding none, Molten sighed again, flew down into the coliseum.

Moltres disappeared from view, and the built up tension was released in audible sighs. Apparently I was the only one who actually wanted Moltres to take a shot at attacking us. By this point I began feeling like a dot among squares, and seeking some sort of conversation buddy, I unveiled a single snag ball. I unleashed its contents, and out came my delcatty, Katty.

Katty immediately realized why she had been called out to the scene. "So, what do you want to discuss this time?" Katty inquired dully, "or would you rather here party gossip?" Party gossip may sound boring since my party remained in their pokéballs all the time, but surprisingly enough, information spread fast among them, especially if it in the least regarded our next destination. I dared to venture into the tangled web and picked the gossip.

"Well, recently, I've heard that ever since getting back to Orre, Keniblaze has been rather chatty," Katty began, perking up, obviously pleased with my answer, "not to mention Agron is deeply considering his relationship with Rhyperior." Booooring... I already had figured out most of this stuff. "Then of course Meta is getting riled up again since you haven't battled with it in a while," Katty continued, "and of course is rather shocked that it was the last one to find out about the new human pokémon talking thing."

Meta usually was the odd one out, most probably because it did not really fit in anywhere. The noble Keniblaze and Agron usually mixed stories, the troublesome Cambrai and Emperion had more than a few interesting ideas to bounce off of each other, and Katty usually preferred to exchange her information with me. But Meta was neither extraordinarily wise (or at least didn't act like it) or mischievous, and Meta would rather destroy an entire house and get put down than have an engaging conversation with the chatty Katty. Not only that, it was the only member amongst my party who didn't have a gender at all, further isolating it from the group.

To be honest, I constantly scolded myself for not doing more to integrated Meta. But ever since I snagged it at Realgm coliseum, it had proved troublesome with following orders or really trying to win a battle. It frustrated the crap out of me, and according to Katty, Meta was taking silent pleasure at my frustrations. I've never confronted Meta about it, but eventually I would need that psychic and steel type to be on the top of its game for a win.

Katty continued to chatter, ranting on and on about the lack of a suitable significant other or something of that nature, and I realized I was beginning to slowly tune her out. It may have been rude, but I couldn't help but wonder what Moltres was doing here. Based on its appearance choice, it apparently was in charge here... But why would a wild Moltres be leading an army? And even if it were domesticated, where is the trainer? Certainly they can't be remotely controlling the legendary flame bird could they? As I gazed towards the blue sky, I noticed something odd. The sky before had been nearly cloudless, allowing the relentless sun to beam down on us. However, now clouds were beginning to form rapidly, and I noted that few others seemed overly concerned with the potentially dangerous and sudden relief.

Shade opened his eyes, expecting to feel searing pain all over his being. However, instead of that, he felt... Strangely relieved. "Heehee," giggled some nearby creature, "you're awake!" Shade glanced over to the source of the noise to see what looked like a mew. Shade blinked once, then twice, and then a third time, to ensure that he was not hallucinating completely and utterly. "Well don't just stay there like you're frozen in space!" the mew invited, "come on, i won't bite!" The mew biting was the last of Shade's worries, and as he realized that indeed he could move freely about, he hesitantly followed the mew, a dome of red and black hindering him from standing tall.

Although completely out of his zone, the heat of the red and black walls around him was comforting, to an extent, and before long Shade finally realized where he was. He was quite literally inside the volcano of Mt. Battle! How this was even possible baffled even his normally knowledgeable self, and apparently sensing his confusion, Mew explained. "You see, everything around you is being held together by the blue and red orbs of Hoenn." "But weren't they once used to control Groudon and Kyogre?" "By you, Shade." "That is beside the point, weren't they?" "Yes, but ever since that little incident in Hoenn, Arceus ordered me to personally see to it that it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands... or wings, again." "But I'm assuming you're leading me straight towards them am I correct?" "Yes, actually, because that is the only way you are getting out of here."

Shade couldn't exactly comprehend the method to Mew's madness. He had not seen the little creature since it played switch around with his mate to be, Gislea. Mew had been used by Arceus for Shade to lower his guard among his enemies, whom he did not realize were his enemies until it was far too late. Giratina arrived just in enough time to negotiate with Arceus, but in the end, Mew was still the primary agent that practically brought both he and Giratina down. As to why Mew was helping now, saved his life, or even had full memory of what happened dumbfounded the ancient legendary. Mew had no reason to actually help Arceus' enemy, and certainly nothing to gain from showing him the most powerful weapons he had once deployed in his coup de tat.

History apparently had not taught Shade a lesson, for the moment he walked into a chamber, he found himself held down and forcibly restrained. Although he resisted, he could feel his energy being drained, and a soothing voice cooing, "Your words continue to ring true; Long Live the Revolution!" As darkness crept into his vision, Shade noticed Mew suddenly transforming, becoming larger. Faintly, he could see an unconscious Ho-Oh lying on the ground, mumbling in her slumber, and what looked like an oddly colored latias glowing over it. Well, if he put two and two together, there was probably an oddly colored latios above him, and that explained where all of his energy was going all of a sudden. When the mew finished flashing, a long purple tail with an orbed end became the final thing that Shade could see, and the sound of a familiar cackle rang in Shade's ears. He mumbled with a weak smile, "Vive la Révolution..."

_For those of you who also had World History for Sophomore Year, yes, I used the French phrase for _Long Live the Revolution___as Shade's fading words on purpose. It was to point out that this plot just got a little bit bigger, involving a few more figures than originally planned when the story was mapped out. I hope you enjoy and excuse my long chapter update time. _


	8. Chapter 8 'Hidden Secrets'

Chapter 8

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAW!" screeched Zap as he shot bolts of electricity from his body to, almost at random, sky based targets. Fearful bird types dodged the attack, only to be hit by one of the opposing birds who served as Zap's wingmen. Ironically enough, at least three out of five of them were female Pidgiettos. Meanwhile, Rita had successfully flushed out and began pursuing the apparent leader of the enemy airborne division; a salamence who seemed to go by Sal. The human on its back shouted orders while at the same time sniping while in the air. As Rita had felt on her side, the human's aim was painfully accurate, despite the various conditions that would prevent ordinary snipers from getting the job done.

Wearing a red jacket with a pokéball in a closed fist on the back, the human apparently was trained specifically for a job like this. Every now and again the large black sniper rifle would lower, return to the strapped position on the human's back, and a pokéball would be hurled. Although so far none of her forces had been captured,the brief distraction was slowly wearing down the power of their aerial assault. As a result, Rita herself took the job of downing that annoying bastard before he and his salamence defeat their air assault.

Locked on, Rita continued to rapidly shoot shadow balls at her quarry, but the agile salamence and the trainer dodged every single one almost effortlessly. Frustrated that her efforts were not getting anywhere, Rita decided that it was time to play... dirty. Rita began flying around in seemingly random circles as she began ascending, the salamence, sensing a fleeing opponent, now pursuing her instead. As she continued to go higher, clouds began gathering, as slowly closed her eyes, and for just a moment, concentrated on her next move.

A bullet nipped her right cheek, but even then her concentration was not broken. Just as it seemed she could go no higher as icicles began to form, Rita opened her eyes, swerved around, and roared. Almost simultaneously, the dark clouds that had been gathering clustered together, encasing the two combatants Rita and the salamence in a cloud of clouds. Salamence, realizing that it had been tricked into separating from the main group, attempted to retreat, but as the trainer realized, there was no easy escape route.

Farther down below, the dark clouds seemed out of place, but the shade aided the efforts of both sides, as the sun was now no longer beaming down on them. However, things turned for the worse for the defenders as suddenly black hail began raining down. The shadow army was unaffected by the hail; the defenders and their trainers were not so fortunate, and found themselves pelted from above. If in the air, it was only worse, as visibility decrease dramatically due to the black hail stubbornly collecting and melting near the eyes of the bird division. Trainers manned their goggles, but for the most part, it failed in preventing their rides from occasionally crashing into each other or getting hit more often.

The wails from below, Rita observed, seemed to only encourage the salamence to fight back, as it launched a powerful dragon pulse in its general direction. Rita swiftly dodged and fired back, the two going at it back and forth continuously in the increasingly darkening purple clouds. The trainer shouted irritably, and before long, much to Rita's dismay, it seemed to be that the pokémon was no longer responding to its master. In fact, its rage seemed to almost mimic those of her own army...

It was at that moment that Rita realized what had just happened, and it was at that moment that she dived towards the salamence, knowing that it would not refuse a claw to claw match. The trainer readied their sniper rifle once more as the salamence, at full speed, flew head on towards Rita. As the distance closed, Rita prepared her final finisher weapon, gathering her aura and exerting it on the surrounding clouds, forming hail of her own. Only feet from each other, it seemed as if it was inevitable that the two would collide. Rita knew her timing would be cutting it close, for she knew that the speed of a bullet could reach past the speed of sound, meaning she wouldn't be capable of hearing the shot in time to dodge it as the distance closed.

The trainer fired the sniper rifle, and Rita launched her shadowy blizzard. Both hit their marks more or less. The blizzard soon uplifted and forced a spinout of the now nearly freezing enemy duo, sending them spiraling towards the ground, icicles forming as their blood likely chilled to near freezing temperatures from the attack by itself. The bullet impacted Rita seconds before she launched the attack, most likely explaining why it wasn't a complete direct hit that would have for sure have frozen the trainer and its pokémon solid, and as she recoiled from the surprisingly painful wound in its jaw, she viciously roared yet again.

From the clouds descended the salamence, its trainer at this point dismounted and readying another pokéball. As the salamence disappeared, it was quickly replaced by a staraptor, who caught the trainer and began rapidly descending towards the ground, knowing that time was of the essence. Rita less gracefully recovered her flight pattern, and quickly began pursuing the staraptor as it flew its trainer towards safety and healing. Unfortunately for the staraptor, its constant speed adjustment to ensure its trainer would not fall from it proved to be its undoing, as before long Rita caught up. A swift wing attack quickly knocked the human from the bird of prey, sending both plummeting towards the ground.

Rita herself for the first time realized that she was actually bleeding; that had not happened in almost a whole century, so at first Rita didn't understand what was going on. However, a quick taste of her own blood reminded her that she was still technically mortal at this point; if the conditions were right, she could very well die. The air battle turned into their favor with the enemy's leader downed, Rita swooped down to finish off the trainer. As she landed, blood dripping from her broken jaw, she glared at the struggling human, who was already attempting to rummage in its pockets for pokeballs. The precious items fell from the sky, landing near Rita. She smiled, then stalked over until she suddenly got a good look at her quarry.

Spiky blonde hair sticked up from the human, and as the hair revealed the pale white face of the trainer, Rita literally gasped. The trainer smiled, their entire body suddenly returning to its normal, white-red color. "Hey Giratina," the trainer goaded, "nice to see you still remember me after Spear Pillar."

Oh yes, Rita remembered this human. Aside from the foolish one whom had forced her to beat the crap out of Dialga and Palkia so that her world wouldn't collapse, Cynthia, and of course the girl in the goofy hat, this trainer was the only other human she personally wanted to rip to shreds. She gritted her teeth, then yelped in pain, as her jaw was not only still severely injured, it was, to an extent, broken, however clearly not as broken as previously thought. Unwilling to risk speaking, Rita towered over the teenager, who had a defiant grin on his face. "I'm sure you have been waiting for this a long time..." the guy said right before Rita descended in full wrath on the luckless trainer.

Who would have thought that Moltres would have been bold enough to lead the charge? Well, apparently none of us did, because the second we were caught napping was the same second Moltres swooped in and snatched up the Duking of Pyrite. Howls of alarm alerted us all back into a state of awareness because even though we were not really sleeping, we had let our guard down. And now, the enemy was not only rushing across the bridge, but across other bridges that seemed to had appeared out of nowhere. It didn't take long for me to return Katty and release Emperion and Agron. Why those two in particular? If it came down to a fight to the death, Agron would stick it through, and Emperion, never the one to be out-done, would also stick it out. And as we quickly found out, it was certainly going to be a long fight.

Although the former Duking of Pyrite was deploying every tactic known to man to organize the defensive effort, his efforts were in vain. I personally knew that the one known as Duking was a symbolic, important person here in Pyrite, but most of the trainers here knew nothing of his reputation or prestige; as a result, most of the trainers ignored him and went through with their own strategies. This wouldn't be a bad thing, save for the fact that at least fifty different strategies were all going on at the same time, sometimes doing more harm than good.

As the fighting intensified, with the ground shaking and the various balls of energy flying across my field of vision, I couldn't help but feel the need to release the rest of my party and changed tactics.I had a pretty bad feeling about the fight nonetheless, even as I ordered Agron and Emperion to kill at their discretion. I released Keniblaze and Cambrai, but kept Meta and Katty to myself. I seized quick possession of a dropped, bloody rifle, then began almost randomly firing onto the pokémon still on the colosseum side of the ravine. My position, however, became dangerous as they started hurling rocks, stones, and even bones in my relative direction, causing me to relocate quickly.

I had to duck and weave from swiping, biting, slashing pokémon as I made my way through the madness. The enemy was slowly pushing us back towards Duel Square. Wes seemed to be the only one who actually knew what we were up against; as he stated, clearly we were not dealing with regular pokémon. However, he also pointed out that these pokémon were most likely enraged shadow pokémon being remotely controlled or dominated. He theorized that if we could capture just one of them, we would be able to start analyzing what is going on. It was easier said than done, because when you went in to capture one, another came and backed it up, and another, and another. It was almost as if they were multiplying before our very eyes.

Eventually, as I myself had to dodge more and more random head chopping swipes, I released Katty to assist me in living. We continued to fight, even as slowly, ever so slowly, we were being pushed back. Moltres firing up the skies above us with charred bodies and flames only added to my personal worries, not to mention that I had lost track of Emperion and Cambrai. Keniblaze and Agron usually stuck out like sore thumbs anyway, Keniblaze with his unique fighting style and Agron with his demeanor and signature earthquake move.

The rifle I may have kept, but it was near useless now that I was pretty much forced into close combat with these monstrosities. Moltres high above continued decimating anything that had wings and dared take flight, and some unseen force was causing a slowly rising panic throughout our ranks. I myself felt this panic, strongly too, but I didn't have an idea of why.

Shade began slowly regaining knowledge of time and space. For one thing, it was clear that he had not been killed; a good sign that he had been captured by the right group of pokémon. Secondly, he wasn't freezing cold or scorching hot, just right actually, meaning that he wasn't a mistreated prisoner of war either. But, if he was none of these, then what was he at this moment? Just a prisoner? A ransom? One thing was for sure; the excessive heat radiating from his left side, since it now seemed to be that he was on his stomach, coupled with the feathery body meant that Ho-Oh was next to him. An interesting thought, seeing as the two had been trying to kill each other not to long ago. "Hey, Ho-Oh," Shade whispered, blinking against the almost absolute darkness that surrounded them, "Ho-Oh, I can sense you are still alive, so answer me!"

Weary at first, then with increasing strength, Ho-oh replied, "Morning, or afternoon Shade; been awhile since the two of us have been stuck together in a crate." "A crate?" Shade repeated, feeling the space around him. As Ho-Oh had said, they were indeed on a wooden crate. Now encouraged, Shade began attempting to gather aura enough for a well placed aura sphere, but Ho-Oh hissed, "Don't do that, we don't want them to know that we are energized yet." Shade ceased his actions, realizing that Ho-Oh had a point. "So how do you propose we get out of this mess?" Shade asked, searching around, "if we can't force our way out..." "They will be releasing us after they capture a certain creature," Ho-Oh explained, "however, I think their ultimate goal is to restore you." "What do you mean?" "It is quite simple really if you want me to explain." "Please do."

"You see, back during the Fall, without you, your Empire collapsed upon itself, of course with help from Arceus, Reshiram, Zekrom, Dialga, Palkia, and myself." "Hm, come to think of it, I actually can't remember..." "You see, in order to revive his legendaries, it became paramount that your memories of the Empire be taken in exchange for your life." "Sounds like a decent exchange." "Not really, because that means any experience, knowledge, or even feelings that you had prior to your death are not with you." "Oh... Well, when you put it that way.." "Yes, precisely, there was a price to be paid to bring back all the legendaries you killed." "That explains why none of them..." "Seem to remember you? Precisely, save for Zekrom, Reshiram, Giratina, Dialga, Palkia, Mespirit..." "Wait, Mespirit?" "Yes, you would be surprised on Arceus' methods for ensuring if you ever were revived by Giratina, you would not so quickly regain your former... Passions." "Such as?" "I don't want to be a spoiler, because I want it all to rush to you like it rushed to me."

Now Shade was confused, and, personally speaking, he had a right to. Pretty much Ho-Oh was saying that he got his memories and everything that went them taken away as the price for his revival by apparently Giratina. And according to Ho-Oh, she had received all of hers back somehow. "How did you get yours back?" "Well, unlike you, who died, my memories were merely locked away, not necessarily removed, so it was far easier to restore them." "But... Rita hasn't said anything about missing memories." "That is because if your memories were to be restored, you might go back to being an imperial." "Excuse me?" "Imperial, yes, that is what I said; you did used to run an entire Empire at the head of your species." "I don't understand..." "There were only two of you in your species, but..." "Wait, even before, there were two..."

Ho-Oh, at this point, squawked in irritation. "Will you let me finish before you go interrupting?" Curious as a child, Shade ceased his interrupting statement, silently listening as Ho-Oh went on. "Gislea and yourself made up your species; the two of you ruled practically the whole world as Emperor and Empress with Giratina as your guardian or whatever. That is, until Dialga, Palkia, and of course myself found a way to bring Arceus back from the Distortion World." Ho-Oh paused, obviously expecting Shade to interrupt. He held back the temptation to do so. "Once we brought back an enraged Arceus, we promptly invaded the palace upon which the two of you dwelled, disposed of Gislea and prepared to do the same to you when Giratina intervened. Things happened, and eventually you ended up with a snapped neck and a broken heart."

"Odd, how could I forget such things?" Shade asked in confusion, "I mean, you don't forget things like that..." "Apparently, you didn't get the picture," Ho-Oh patiently tried to elaborate, "you died, and then got revived at the price of your old life." Oh. Put like that, it seemed to make far more sense; that was why Rita so irritably tried to distance the two. She knew that were it not for the wipe, he would much rather be interested in Gislea, not to mention Rita clearly did not like him in that sense. But he remembered Giselea's name and species quite clearly prior to even seeing her a second time. He even remembering the attack on his palace, though that particular memory was fuzzy. Either way, there were still some points not adding up. "Anyway, promptly afterwards, there seemed to be an egg left over." Ho-Oh continued before Shade could make his inquiry.

Shade snapped in alarm, "An egg?" "Yes, an egg left by the Emperor and Empress," Ho-Oh elaborated, "apparently, Arceus had underestimated Giratina's masterpieces, obviously not believing that as legendaries, you could not have an egg at all." "What happened to it?" "I'm sure you have already met Lugia..." A pause, as the reality of the answer slowly sunk in. "Wait... Lugia is my..." "Yes, but neither she or apparently you know of it." Shade suddenly felt somewhat guilty for looking at technically his daughter the way he had, but then again, he didn't exactly know what he was looking at. "So how do you know all this for sure?" Ho-Oh laughed in an impatient 'this instead of yelling' type of way. "I already told you, my memories..." "Oh I get that, but who..." "The being of knowledge obviously." "Uxie?" "Did I stutter? Uxie and Azelf had been captured by Mewtwo and the gang prior to them capturing us at Mt. Battle. He used Uxie to restore me how you say." "What does it plan on doing with all three of the Lake Guardians, assuming it is after the third as well?" "You sure don't connect the dots well for a former Emperor; they plan on restoring you as well!"

The blonde trainer closed their eyes, stiffly awaiting the end. However, when it didn't come, he stared back at the Giratina that had literally frozen into place.

Rita felt something. Something that she knew meant bad news. It was a distress call, and it seemed to be coming from Mespirit. Why would Mespirit contact her rather than Arceus? Certainly Arceus wasn't too busy to assist even Mespirit? Regardless, it was the message that alarmed her the most.

_I found Uxie and Azelf; they are at Mt. Battle in Orre. I am afraid they have been captured! And by the looks of things, I am next; I already know that you are a little more active and less passive than Arceus nowadays, so of course, I find it appropriate to ask you for help... Unless you, of course ordered this. Don't be too shocked because I sent this or surprised that you're not the only one on the move here. _

Who was this 'other' who seemed to be on the move? More importantly, why wasn't Arceus making any significant type of move? Maybe he wanted to see how humans would hold up against her forces? Or was there a more personal motive to this? Either way, if Arceus wouldn't save Mespirit of all creatures, then it seemed that job was up to none other than the other creator of the world. Rita blew the human with a simple breath back into the city, then called out for Zap and Arctic.

They landed rather roughly, Zap still sounding of static electricity. "The two of you are in charge while I am gone," Rita said, "remember the plan and you shall do fine." Arctic made a move to protest, but Rita had already flown off, heading into what looked to be a large wormhole of sorts. Arctic turned to Zap. Zap snickered, "Alright, now let's do things our way!" "What is our way?" Arctic inquired, "I'm not sure if I know how to lead an army." "Then leave it up to me," Zap snickered as it flew into the air, "just watch and learn."

Outright terror suddenly filled both sides, although the terror seemed to intensify the enemy's attacks. It demoralized and weakened ours, unfortunately, and as I returned my startled team one by one (save for Emperion and Cambrai, for if i didn't know where they were before, I really didn't know where they were by this point), I eventually came to realize that I too felt the same terror and urge to flee as they did. Apparently something bad was either about to happen or had happened, because my legs involuntarily carried me in pure flight away from Pyrite. Most trainers didn't bother hopping back into their vehicles, but like usual, I was not the majority. I hopped onto the hover bike, and prior to starting up, Emperion and Cambrai finally joined me in the guest's seat. "Nice of you to join us," I retorted as I shakily started the vehicle. It was Wes' mistake not to take the keys back from me in the fight, or maybe it was to his most fortune. Either way, the engine started, and quite promptly we fled the scene at full speed, the sound of victorious cries ringing out.

"At long last," Mewtwo snickered, Mespirit levitating between its Latios and Latias, "I finally have the tools to re-spark the Revolution." "Long live the Revolution!" chanted the latios and latias as the helpless Mespirit looked hurriedly from side to side, attempting to get a feel for what was going on through the emotions of anyone nearby. It wasn't working; clearly whatever forcefield was keeping it restricted also suppressed the ability to sense emotions. Eventually, Mespirit was plopped down next to its fellow lake guardians, who seemed more or less fine with what was going on. Uxie never really seemed to get worked up by anything, but Azelf usually had a silent act of defiance going on. This time, Azelf merely stared blankly at a large wooden crate.

"And now my fellow Revolutionaries!" Mewtwo announced, "witness the rebirth, of our leader!" A roar of excitement followed, and inside the crate movement could be detected. This only seemed to goad the assembly even more into a frenzy, as Mewtwo gestured towards the Crate. "And who could forget the hated enemy of our cause! The hoar of the hoes, Ho-Oh!" Boos rang out, and a somewhat angry warning spark came from the crate. Clearly Mewtwo had gotten Ho-oh worked up with his comment. "And now finally, introducing the last, but far from least," Mewtwo announced with a devilish smile, "Giratinaaaa!"

A wormhole opened, and as predicted, Rita the giratina appeared from the wormhole in its Altered Forme, clearly ready for a fight. The crowd now became illuminated, revealing only what seemed to be reverse forms of legendaries already spoken of; a Groudon who's main coloration was black rather than red, a Kyogre primarily red, and so on and so forth concerning Latios, Latias, . Rita had a surprised look on her face as Mewtwo clapped. "What a grand entry guardian of the Empire!" Mewtwo said, "bravo for an outstanding performance!" Rita promptly looked to the three captured lake guardians, then back to Mewtwo. "I should have expected that you were the one behind this. Release them." "Or what?" Mewtwo goaded, "don't you want me to also release Shade?"

This came as quite the surprise to Rita, who for the first time noticed the large crate on the other side of the cave. "With some help from a very... Knowledgeable source," Mewtwo explained, "I managed to orchestrate all of this." "What do you intend to do?" Rita asked cautiously, "surely there is a method to your madness." "Indeed there is," Mewtwo explained, "you see, I have grand interest in restoring things to how they should have been." "But you weren't even alive then." "No, but Mew was, and as far as I'm concerned, that means I am very well involved in all of this," Mewtwo snarled, "and you, my dear, have been waiting a little too long." "Mewtwo, you are out of line for this!" Giratina snarled back, "you know that you are out of line." Mewtwo smiled deceptively softly, then said in a mocking tone, "Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I shouldn't take advantage of your not able to protect your darling Shade."

Suddenly, a rush of rage, hurt, and protective intentions rushed Mespirit, nearly knocking it from its place. Uxie stiffened, clearly knowing about all that was going on, and Azelf shuddered violently. "Mespirit, we have to do something!" Azelf whispered, "if we don't Rita may very well..." "Rage," Uxie whispered, "and that is precisely what Mewtwo wants." "Why?" Mespirit inquired, "wouldn't that lead to all of us being killed?" "No," Uxie explained, "if he wants to 'restore' Shade, then he has to first show him something that no other legendary has." "What is that?" Azelf asked irritably, "what does that special lugia have that we don't?" Uxie peeked open its eyes, clearly staring at none, "a parental figure that would destroy even Arceus if it meant protecting the one it raised and nurtured." All three turned towards the visibly enraged Giratina, the very ground around it breaking, cracking, and levitating. "Prepare to teleport, because this will get real ugly real fast."

Rita roared once again, enshrouded itself in dark energy, then rushed towards Mewtwo. Mewtwo, expecting this, easily dodged; but realized too late that it was not the target. Rita swerved and then violently passed over the crate, shattering it without even touching it, revealing a tied up Shade being freed by Ho-Oh, the burnt remains of its restraints clearly seen. As Shade stretched his wings, nearly hitting Ho-Oh in the process, it turned to see Rita once again going in for Mewtwo. Mewtwo visibly tried to move, but none of its body would respond. "Latios!" Mewtwo cried out in alarm, "plan B!" Latios and Latias instantly fired off a psychic towards Mewtwo, which knocked him out of the way of death. Unfortunately, Rita kept going, and a startled Groudon found itself slammed into the back of the cave. A sickening crunching sound could be heard upon impact, and as Rita reversed its direction, cried out once again, then began attacking anything and anyone in sight, the groudon coughed up bits of blood onto the floor. This was the cue for everyone else to take their leave, and Latios promptly warped itself and most of the others to relative safety before Rita finished them off as well. Unfortunately, Groudon, who had been left behind, fell to the ground, unmoving as Rita turned towards Shade, Ho-Oh, and an also left behind Mewtwo.

"Oh shit," Ho-Oh blurted as the fearsome ball of energy came at them next. Mewtwo still found that it couldn't move. Shade swiftly blocked Ho-Oh and shouted, "Rita, wait!" Much to everyone's surprise, Rita stopped momentarily, landing in front of Shade, seething. "Move," was Rita's simple command, "I will destroy these pests!" "Wait, Ho-Oh helped me!" Shade insisted, "Mewtwo was the one who captured the lake trio!" Obviously not absorbing what was said, Rita vanished into a darkened shadow beneath it, then reappeared directly behind Ho-Oh. Rita lunged for the unsuspecting bird, but instantly halted once again, as if frozen in space.

Azelf, Uxie, and Mespirit together could be seen circling Rita in a frenzied effort to calm it. It seemed to work, as Mespirit drained the hard ended emotions from Rita, Uxie chanted in unintelligible words. Then, almost like magic, something clicked, and Rita returned to normal, huffing and puffing as it stood just inches from the back of Ho-Oh. Mewtwo took this opportunity to mentally attack Uxie while it was distracted, effectively finding precisely what it needed. Then it projected said thoughts towards Shade, who was overwhelmed by the ferocity Rita had displayed in his own defense. Startled, Shade yowled and repelled Mewtwo, but not before Mewtwo managed to plant a slideshow of flashbacks that would help Shade put two and two together. Mewtwo then vanished in a teleportation, and Groudon hacked up more blood. As Rita calmed, Uxie muttered, "We'd best do something about that groudon before it perishes..."

Regigas, along with Dialga and Palkia stood at Spear Pillar, awaiting Arceus' departure from the wormhole. He indeed departed from the wormhole, Reshiram and Zekrom following closely behind, then patiently said, "This has gone on far enough. It is time for an intervention." The group then, as one, left Spear Pillar on their way towards Orre.

Suicune padded softly into the large, well-furnished chamber. Apparently there were no guards on Citidark Island, despite its importance, and Suicune very quickly found her way inside without a problem. Suicune quickly uncovered the chamber where her companions HAD been held. She scanned the room, searching for any signs that they were still there. However, there was no sign of them, and Suicune sighed. She would just have to keep looking for them, as she was sure that they were here. Call it a gut feeling or no, she needed to find them...

_Originally, this story was basically going to be: Phenac falls, Pyrite falls, Arceus deems it necessary to step in, Ho-Oh and Shade escape, and pretty much story ends. However, after reading some Memorial Day articles, I couldn't help but start adding in the deeper story line that I had been planning on saving for later. Anyways, I hope everyone has a memorable Memorial Day, and remember the fallen heroes of your respective countries who have fought to defend the ideals of your nation, whether they were just or not. _

_~Happy Memorial Day veterans, fallen, and on duties. Also to the families of previously stated heroes, Happy Veterans Day! _

_- Jack_


	9. Chapter 9 'Reign of Madness'

**Reign of Madness**

_Alright, some notes before we actually get involved in the story; realize now that I completed this, more or less, at home; but a few tweaks that MAY have altered the story the wrong way were done here at home. Nonetheless, I was tempted to write a lemon, but decided that it was best saved for a seperated book, so that this story doesn't have to go M (though, according to sources, that is where there are even MORE serious reviewers!). A final note is that while it does seem long, I did make you all wait awhile, and decided to fluff it up as much as possible to make sure it was wortht he wait! (and I am in an undeclared competition with another author to update and keep the story interesting, and they have been spitting chapters out like an author on a rainbow of inspiration and ideas!)_

The sky had officially darkened into a rather creepy black and purplish hue, the temperature dropping almost as rapidly as the change in scenery. It reminded me somewhat of the rainy, sunny weather switch offs in Hoenn when I first arrived there after my first departure from Orre. However, that is a different story, and as the bike finally spouted its last huff of smoke, I promptly dismounted. Cambrai and Emperion followed promptly. Checking the fuel indicator, it was clear that we were out of gas. That was the bad news; the good news is that we had not stopped in the middle of nowhere in the scorching hot heat.

Hiding the vehicle amongst the various dunes all over the area, I couldn't help but wonder what was in store for the rest of Orre. Did we need to worry about more slaughters and massacres, or the sights of tanks running over mountains of corpses? I had no idea, but quite honestly I didn't want to find out unless someone told me in a safe place. A rather large dune proved difficult to climb, especially for Emperion, but we managed to crest it. Roughly an entire lugia's length (from nose to tip) away from the base of the dune we stood upon rested the Legendary Coliseum of Orre. Rock formations stuck out from the ground, all coming into a relatively simple looking shape resembling that of a rocky hand. The battle coliseum itself was shaped in the typically pokéball fashion, and from an aerial view, the entire thing would look like a rough, softly jagged hand holding a pokéball.

Approaching the Coliseum without a pokémon was the equivalent of walking into a bar with a child. Not only was it illegal, it just wasn't something that was done, whether you were invited or not. As a result, it made perfect sense to keep Cambrai and Emperion by my side as we walked up to what looked like the entrance, a small booth separate from the structure itself. Upon reaching the booth, I realized that there actually was someone attending it, even if they were napping.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, startling the booth keeper. Completely flustered, the booth keeper fumbled around searching for most likely a pen and paper to take down my name. "Okay then, what can I do for you?" he said as he readied a notepad and pen, "would you like to participate..." "No, we want food and water," Emperion bluntly interrupted, "shelter also." Looking rather irritated that he had been interrupted, the booth keeper retorted, "This isn't a hotel, this is a coliseum; you have either come to battle or watch a battle." Almost as if the booth keeper just realized it just had a small conversation with an empoleon, the booth keeper's eyes widened, blinked, then asked, "Am I going crazy?" "No, you're just lazy," someone behind me retorted, "I'll take it from here." The booth keeper nodded quickly, almost as if a quick comply was necessary to continue living. I turned around, and my breath was caught in my throat as I stared into the eyes of none other than Steven.

Steven Newsoia was technically my uncle, although he had acted more like a brother back in the old days, and to see him in his red uniform, similar to Wes' save for the snagem emblem emblazoned on the back of it quite literally left me speechless. "We've been waiting for you to come back to Orre," Steven snickered, "Gonzap was beginning to think you would never return." "Well, I would not have returned had John and his group not jumped me in The Underground," I replied, "and besides, what are you doing here?" "I could ask you the same thing," Steven shot back, "you do realize that I've been taking a lot of heat because of what you did?" Indeed, it was only reasonable that Gonzap would have kept Steven under ropes after his nephew attempted to conceal the fact that he had snag balls hidden from the organization. I shrugged in response, however, and merely answered, "I have a pretty good idea that Gonzap has been keeping a close eye on you ever since I left." "Indeed he has," Steven grumbled, "it would have been better if you would have at least come back earlier..." "Listen, let's not get into this right now alright?" I asked, a sudden chill causing me to shiver, "its cold out here. You happen to still have that truck of yours?" "I would, but that was confiscated since supposedly it was your vehicle of operations," Steven growled, "whether this is true or not didn't matter; I've been stuck hanging out with other snagem teams." "It can't be all bad." "You have no idea what it is like to be a Team Snagem member nowadays."

I had had enough of this chatter, mostly because I only knew that this would only resort to knifing statements that could lead to a battle. And that was the last thing that I wanted to happen. "Listen, is there any form of shelter around here?" I asked yet again, another shiver shaking my body, "it's getting colder by the second." "Oh, you have noticed," Steven said, seemingly unfazed by the sudden change of weather, "I was hoping that it could at least snow before this happened." "Why?" Emperion cut in before I could answer, "Why exactly do you think it will snow?" Without further warning, Cambrai jumped Steven from behind in an attempt to force him to the ground. Much to my surprise, Steven nimbly dodged the attack and then quickly appeared next to me.

Before I could make another move, my neck was trapped in the arm of Steven, and his other arm restrained the rest of me. His strength seemed uncanny, highly uncharacteristic of his relatively lightweight frame. "Try that again and I will snap his neck," Steven warned Cambrai in particular, "and don't think I won't." Emperion chuckled, stuck out a wing, metallized it, and then spat, "You don't have the macho for that." "But I doooo!" cried out some random voice. For some unknown reason, I looked up; I saw the falling petals and powder like materials falling down upon us. My eyelids grew heavy, Emperion stiffened, and Cambrai collapsed on the spot. "What in the world..." I muttered as my entire body decided it didn't want to hold me up anymore. The last image before winking out was of two bellossoms circling our fallen group. By this point, even as my body was gently lowered to the ground, I realized that my worst fears had come true once again. I had been captured by Team Snagem...

The black groudon muttered in its sleep, completely exhausted after the healing treatment that had, in essence, saved its life. Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf all crowded around the cave entrance, warily watching the ever darkening outside. Inside the cave, carved walk made up the walls and the rocky ground seemed smoothed over in a sort of path. Crystals embedded in the walls provided illumination. A confused Shade slumbered next to a watchful Rita, eyeing constantly, the still alert Ho-Oh. Ho-Oh knew that a single flap would bring down Rita upon her, but that should have convinced the Lake Guardians to let her fly home rather than keep her here.

"Ho-Oh, remain where you are," Uxie warned, "You know as well as I do what will happen if you don't. Try to get some rest while you're at it." Easy for Uxie to say; it could keep its eyes closed all the time and not be worried about getting torn to shreds by a giratina. Ho-Oh couldn't help but wonder why in the world Mewtwo was trying to re-instigate The War. The war had completely reshaped the world they lived in, breaking the supercontinent into the various regions of today, producing the hierarchy of legendries, and forced both Arceus and Giratina to retreat to their respective realms, one out of choice and the other through force. Despite the various attempts at damage control, for centuries there continued to remain enmity between each of the factions that fought to not only survive but thrive. Eventually, the winners could be declared the trainers and their pokémon, as they eventually rose to dominate the world as a military force. Pokémon considered wild eventually lost even their status as number two, as humans without pokémon naturally were favored over the hostile, killer wilds that desperately tried to cling to the former order.

Since the legendries had been reformed and practically stashed away in their respective locations, there was nothing keeping mankind from coming out on top. Mewtwo, who wouldn't exist had this not happened, shouldn't have had a reason to instigate conflict on the very soil where Shade fell simply to restore the former order. There had to be something deeper, less obvious that was going on. Something Uxie was hesitant to tell any of them about Mewtwo's deeper motives, his methods, and more importantly, his supporters. This happened to include a few reasons for Arceus' hesitation to intervene. Ho-Oh sighed as she remembered that there was one thing she even still envied about Shade, despite his situation when Arceus finally gets into action. Ho-Oh had, from the very start, been raised to live as Arceus' personal second in command. Destined to compete with Lugia, AKA Shade, for the title of King of the Sky, a title that could be given for the time, Ho-Oh had been created from the very beginning as a super powered fire bird, while Shade hatched as a helpless infant barely capable of squirting a water gun. Although Ho-Oh had had the advantage with a head start, being militarily drilled and prepped almost every single day took its toll on Ho-Oh, even though in the end she managed to beat Shade. Ho-Oh cast an envious glance towards the lugia huddled against his guardian angel, his parental figure, who watched like a staraptor for any signs of movement from a potential threat. Ho-Oh, even after winning the crown, never had such luxury; in fact, save for Shade, no other legendary, or lugia for that matter, could claim that they could do precisely what Shade was doing now.

It was parts of this envy, this jealousy that had originally isolated Shade from the rest of the legendries. However, when Shade began preaching of a New World Order, a fresh start, a better light... Practically everyone ranging from Rayquaza to Regigas turned against Arceus in violent fury. Ho-Oh was one of the few non-deity legendries of the time to continue to support Arceus, despite personal misgivings. Palkia and Dialga in particular have given quite a bit of loyalty to Arceus over the years, but what was the reward, the icing on the cake, for such loyalty? Maybe a fancy title, maybe more power, possibly even greater authority... But that continued to pale in comparison to having Shade's life. A mate, a child, a mother/father figure, a guardian, respect, dignity, and a feeling of self-rule...

Ho-Oh blinked back the tears and ceased the involuntary clawing at the ground whenever she thought of those things. It wasn't fair! Why is it the banished one seemed to present better things? Why is it the usurper had more than the rest of them 'good' guys? As if tuning into Ho-Oh's very thoughts, a soft murmur said, "The question isn't why; the question is how." Uxie never ceased to amaze Ho-Oh, and the more Ho-Oh thought about it, the more she realized that, indeed, it wasn't why Shade was significantly happier; it was how.

Ho-Oh finally realized why Molten, Arctic, and Zap had switched. Arceus and Ho-Oh had been trying to answer why when the true question was how! Shadow pokémon made up the majority if not the entirety of the armies that once and now trampled the land; as Ho-Oh realized finally how Rita had successfully transformed so many into shadow pokémon so quickly, a loud, piercing shriek was heard. Alarmed, Rita turned towards the source of the sound; directly above them, and after a tense moment, resumed her watchful vigil of Ho-Oh. Ho-Oh sighed, and trusting that as long as she didn't move towards Shade things would be fine, Ho-Oh closed her eyes and dared to sleep.

Confused, Raikou lazily looked up towards the room's entrance. The now dank, hot environment had really taken its toll on the exhausted thunder cat, and the sudden noise had literally broken him from his mood. Seeing nothing there, Raikou returned his attentions back to a half sleep Entei. The sound may have been indeed his concious, who had pricked him throughout the entire thing. Nonetheless, he was snapped from his trance by Entei's murmurings. "Mm, morning already?" she joked, snuggling further underneath Raikou, "or is it Arceus coming with his book of judgment?" "Neither it seems," Raikou replied, "maybe we are just paranoid because of... Well, you know." "Don't worry; we are on Citidark Island. In the morning we will go to Gateon Port, signal for Suicune and Ho-Oh, and continue on as if nothing happened." Raikou wished that was how it was, but had a feeling that it wouldn't be that simple. Raikou shifted so that his left side could lie on the soft moss while his right continues to remain semi-on top of the now sleeping Entei. Keeping a close grip, Raikou pulled Entei just a little closer, burying his muzzle into the back of Entei's head, careful that his saber teeth would not do the same as sleep crept on him.

Out of the entranceway, but still nearby, a shocked, mortified Suicune could hardly believe what she just saw. She had heard soft growls, and had assumed that it was coming from a conversing Entei and Raikou. She was partly right, but something far more... Serious had been going on at the same time. When she sneaked to the entrance and poked her head in, she arrived just in time to see Raikou pushing his pelvis into a back arched Entei's rear. It didn't take long to connect the dots, even as the two collapsed seconds later. Suicune didn't understand why at the time why she felt so… betrayed. It wasn't like she had not ruled out something like this eventually happening when the trio was first introduced, but regardless of the reason, she shrieked in anger, frustration, confusion, and disbelief, almost completely exposing her presence to them. She only had her head in the doorway, so it was easy to draw it back, but still Suicune tensely waited for any signs that they knew of her being there. There were none, and the shaken dog softly retreated down the even darker cave tunnel that seemed to swallow her blue figure.

The yellow haired trainer (alright, let's go ahead and give his name to save some words: Chad) found himself corralled inside the only structure that remained standing tall in Phenac. Outside, the sun seemed to be getting ever dimmer, and the smell of fear and outright terror quite literally made Chad gag. He was stuck in quite the mess, as were his six party pokémon. His staraptor was the only one out right now, as it was the only one capable of dodging a quick attack at the moment, and the surrounding pokémon radiated a ferocity Chad had only seen mirrored by that Giratina. Luckily, his rifle was far from him, or else some of the pokémon might try to take their vengeance upon him. A flash of black and yellow brought Chad's attention to the other side of, yes; you guessed it, the coliseum.

Zap, brimming with static electricity, led a somewhat less bold Articuno across the coliseum grounds towards the surrounded, trapped trainers. He felt good; Rita had yet to return, and since Arctic had yet to step up to the plate, he was in charge. And he knew what he really wanted from all of these trainers. "Hello there!" Zap announced, "Tell me, how many of you here call themselves trainers?" Most if not all of the gathered assembly had, as expected raised their hands, their remaining pokémon glaring with daggers at Zap as he scanned the crowd for anyone who didn't have their hands raised Zap let out a wicked cackle that silenced the room. "Well, I think you all know what I want more than anything else from you all; a good battle!" Arctic, surprised, was about to protest when Zap shooed him away with his wing. "Who's first?"

A meek looking trainer stepped forward, yet upon leaving the majority of the crowd, a look of defiance made up her face. "I'll take you on you jerk!" A mere child by many standards, the eight year old held up a single great ball, and then released a golem. "Alright golem, lets show this bird how it is done!" the trainer exclaimed, "listen to our roar!" Trainer and partner together shouted into the sky, causing the silence to be abruptly jarred. Zap, however, was clearly unfazed. "Bring it on!" Zap screeched as it landed before the pair.

Arctic feared that the type disadvantage would bring about Zap's demise. Zap fearlessly attacked the golem with vigor, who easily fended off the bird's attacks. The trainer laughed at Zap's attempts, and to be honest, so was half the prisoners. It was embarrassing that Zap the zapdos to actually try to defeat a golem when none of its attacks technically would be effective. As a ground type, Zap's powerful electric attacks would hardly faze it, and as a rock type its normal ferocity would only scratch the surface.

However, as the trainer began to slowly realize, her golem was actually taking a beating. Caught off guard by the sheer strength of the pecking, clawing, and wing batting, the golem was on its back in no time, under threat of rolling were it not for Zap continuously pinning it down. Although there were no visible bruises or even deep scratches, if this continued, then by default the golem would become incapable of battling. Eventually, Zap ceased attacking, and as the golem rose to its feet, the trainer ordered a rollout. The golem quickly obeyed, rolling straight for the grounded Zap. Zap dodged the initial roll, but was knocked on his back by the second and third rolls.

As it seemed as if a fourth roll would roll right over Zap's head, the bird quickly lifted itself its grounded position and took to the air, dodging the supposed finisher. "Ha, need to get in the air," goaded the trainer, "can't handle it eh?" Zap snickered, "Trust me, if you are honestly thinking that this is permanent, then your golem is as good as dead!" Zap began gathering electricity around it, screeching fiercely at the golem, whom had ceased the rollout by this point. "Alright, let's go ahead and nail it with rock throw!" the trainer shouted. The golem soon found dozens of rocks tossed to its feet. Apparently geodudes would do the trick, because many of these 'rocks' had arms.

Zap soon extended its beat in a white glow, and its entire body began reflecting light like newly made, polished steel. This had not been in the play books, and as the golem knew a successful steel wing would turn the tide, it quickly began hurling the rocks at Zap. Zap dodged most of them, those making contact not forcing the bird to the ground as intended. The geodudes landing upon the ground made a slight thud noise, as they essentially repositioned themselves for hurling, making at least a dozen and a half geodudes seem like fifty, Zap locked eyes with its target. Zap then dove down towards the golem at high speed, from a decent distance appearing like a meteor crashing down.

The geodudes scattered quickly as Zap approached ever nearer to the center of the coliseum. Other trainers scattered in panic, along with their pokémon, as did practically anyone even near the center. No one figured that a major impact would occur, but it was better safe than sorry. The high audience's stands were far from the danger, but even without flowing water it was clear that tracks were being made. The golem soon realized that not only was it the main target, this dangerous projectile seemed to be homed in on it, and decided that it would be far easier to defend than to flee, considering its relative speed compared to a bird type. It hunkered down, ready to take the oncoming attack head on, believing full well that this steel wing and peck combination would not be the end of it.

Arctic recognized instantly why the golem stopping and facing Zap was a mistake, and actually shouted, "Don't just stand there, move!" But by the time 'move' came from Arctic, Zap spun, then impacted the golem. It was a direct hit, and as the golem's surprised expression revealed, unexpectedly effective. Zap withdrew after rearing back, then pecking the golem once again, blood dripping from the tip of its shortening beak. The golem collapsed onto the ground in a heap, and Zap asked, "So, who is next?" Stunned, the trainers returned their own pokémon. Chad himself put his own party's pokéballs back into their respective planes in his handbag.

"That is what I thought!" Zap barked, body alight in sparks, "now on your knees NOW!" The subdued group of trainers obeyed without hesitation. "Relinquish any party pokémon you have; if even one of them is kept on your person, both they and you will regret the decision!" Once again, pokéballs clattered onto the ground, and were promptly collected by zigzagoons and ferrets. Chad ensured to mark each of his, to ensure that he would be able to recognize his party when the time came. Once it was all clear that all of those who were surrendering became obvious, Zap smiled, and then sent out a powerful wave of electricity into the crowd of trainers. Chad himself winced, but when he realized that it wasn't harming him, he became confused. That is, until he noticed various small explosions all over the stage.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Zap cooed as the pops ceased, "seems many of you failed to heed my warning." Chad noticed that trainers who had kept at least one pokémon on them checked the pokéball; and quickly realized that they were not functioning to any degree. "Not only are your beloved ones trapped forever in there," Zap explained, "they will also soon die, since obviously their space cannot be regulated if the pokéball is dysfunctional." Cries of alarm and terror alerted Chad to the purpose of Zap doing what he did. "Now, maybe when I give this order, you will actually listen," Zap joked, "start having fun with each other, or I will personally kill one of your pokémon every minute that you fail to do as I say." It was all in sick fun, Chad was aware, but much to his shock and fear, practically every trainer immediately began stripping down. It no longer mattered about who they used to be... Whether they liked it or not, they had to do what they were told when they were told. And as Chad began disarming his own clothing, he knew that it was going to be a long night.

Zap snickered yet again as the humans did precisely what he told them to. This kind of power and authority was quite secretly giving Zap a personal orgy, but Arctic arriving next to him ruined the enjoyment. "Don't you think you are abusing your power just a bit?" Arctic warily asked, "What I mean is, having them do this in front of us is kind of..." "Sick?" Zap jeered, "Twisted? What, did you think this would all be nobility and justice?" "Sort of, yes, Shade called this a noble crusade to restore what was lost." "Well wake up to the reality of things; if we want to really instill fear into their populace, we need to make sure that we let those we already have dominion over know who is in charge."

Zap's voice began growing in intensity, but strangely remained at a relatively low tone. "When I ask them to jump, they ask how high. When I order them to kill, they merely wish to know how many! When I tell them to fuck each other before my very eyes, they only inquire about my preferred style to witness!" Arctic, mortified and somewhat terrified at the same time, backed away from Zap, who nearly spat on him. "Weakling! Molten failed to instill anything in you as flock leader. Now I think it is time that someone does..."

Molten closed his eyes, crooned gently, and then sighed. "Yes, that is how it is done..." he moaned as his entire backside was given quite the massage by various psychic types. Pyrite Town had been completely conquered, and for the most part, there was little damage to it. Sure, it reminded him nothing of Johto's soft, perfectly clean cities and narrow streets, but he sure enjoyed the weather. However, something was picking at his brain... Something that seemed oddly familiar. Something he had not experienced since his last unfortunate trip to Orre when Zap and Arctic had been captured by some Cipher organization.

Molten realized what it was without being told. "Oh crap..." Molten murmured. Arctic was terrified, and as the leader of the group whenever he was not bickering with Zap or Lugia was not around, he had been instilled with the instinct to know when one of his wingmen were under considerable stress. And it seemed that Arctic was under quite the distress. Of course, he knew all of this before an annoying little pikachu entered his private quarters at the top of the windmill.

"Sir, Phenac has fallen thanks to the efforts of your brother Zap and the third army!" the pikachu announced, "but I also have some... Disturbing news." "Well?" Molten asked, barely paying much attention, "what could be more disturbing then getting one off of a simple massage by gardevoirs?" His massagers temporarily stopped, then resumed once pikachu also digested that interesting bit of news. "You see, Zap essentially ordered the captured humans to... Well, mate with each other in front of the army..." "And why do I care?" "Because at the same time he is also attacking Arctic!" Molten suddenly stiffened, causing quite the cursing from the gardevoirs who had worked so hard to unstiffen many of those muscles.

"Attacking?" Molten repeated, "Attacking Arctic?" "Yes, they are doing battle even as we speak!" the pikachu shouted, "You must do something! With Rita and Shade absent, if seems that it falls to you!" Well, even on this side of the fence, he still ended up getting the duty of being the first on the scene. "Alright then, just give me a minute to..." "I know your massage was feeling good, but you need to do something!" The setting sun set Molten aglow in orange sunlight as he sighed, then raised, the gardevoirs dispersing. "Alright then, where in Phenac are they?"

I woke up in a rather dark, dank chamber that smelled of death. I got up slowly, knowing that I was probably somewhere in Eclo Canyon. However, that reassured me little when I saw the bones of various prisoners. Last time I checked Team Snagem had not had a prisoner in a long time; I guess that explains that. "Hey Jack," someone whispered, "nice to see that you are awake." I glanced over to the light in the corner, and as I slowly stood up, then stalked over to the entrance, I realized that I was staring at Wes. "They got me while we were camping near Libra," Wes explained, "they confiscated my pokémon, and apparently everyone else's too."

I checked my belt, and realized that it was missing; that meant my party was too. The rocky floor made my boots sound rather clunky as I began pacing the floor. This was almost worse than getting your entire party snagged by Wes; no, in fact, it was far worse, because he had no chance to actually stop them! At least, however, his party would not be so easily swayed to join their side.

"Jack, someone's coming!" Wes hissed, "You'd best be prepared for anything!" Easier said than done, as that would usually mean readying Agron's pokéball. The click clack of heels disturbed me, but the thud of boots reassured me that I was not going to be dealing with a female lawyer. It wasn't that I didn't like them, it was just that I was wary of them; Orrian ones in particular were skilled in the art of fact exploiting and the creation of viable information. Unlike Johto, however, there were not that many male lawyers, so when someone in Pyrite was in trouble, they rarely ever bothered asking for male names. They knew who the good lawyers were. My cell door opened, revealing that rather than being locked deep within a cave, I was actually within the canyon itself, the two sides being used as holding cells. "Your presence is requested at the arena," a deep voice snarled, "and you had best get a move on before you are skipped." I did as I was told, and upon walking into the light, I realized that the sun was setting; unfortunately, the direction I was walking was in that direction, and without shades of any kind, there was no way I would be able to stray from the path I was prodded in.

My escorts included a brown haired, fair skinned woman with a face that presented 'I am here to help, but don't expect much' with a body that suggested she was an active trainer. The two snagem members were not snaggers, as by their attire of the red jacket, black pants, T-shirt, boots, and ear muffs. Their shades concealed their eyes, but I was pretty sure that they were staring exactly at the center of my back.

In basic training, that was the main key; you needed to know what your enemy was doing. Although I argued that the center of the back wasn't a good location, I went through hell trying to disprove it as a rookie, and eventually just plain conceded and started adding that to my tactic list. Also as a rookie, I had been trained that the best prisoner was a blind, deaf one. And with the sun in my face, forcing my eyes down to the trail, and the deafening noise of prisoners shouting outrage that their party pokémon had been taken from them. Many of them demanded trials, but I knew that those trials were not exactly going to be the definition of fair.

Eventually, I reached a wide open space, shaped like a circle, and I couldn't help but be reminded of the combat arenas that ancient Orrians used to test their might. It was the first coliseum to be technical, though there were no pokémon involved. Only bloody, brutal brawls with bronze weapons and desperate prisoners. As I was thrown into this arena, in the king's place, which was really just a large place at the top of the left of my entrance, there seemed to stand a very buff, muscled guy. Standing next to him was a figure in a yellow snag outfit, hair a spiky black. Don't ask me why or even how, but yes, the guy had spiky black hair. And based on the looks of it, it wasn't exactly dyed black either.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have quite the treat for you this evening!" a familiar voice boomed, "today, you have seen awesome spectacles between shadow pokémon and regular pokémon, not all of them ending as expected for any of us!" I wondered if any of my party had been injured in this. "But now, today, we officially present a new contestant; shadow trainer versus regular trainer!" the man announced, "I am your host, Gonzap, leader of your Team Snageeeem!" The unseen crowd howled in excitement, and before I realized it, a trainer in all black came from the other side of the stadium. "On this side, former Snagem member, native to Orre, Jack!" Gonzap shouted, "And behold, on this side, former champion of Sinnoh, one of the greatest trainers of Sinnoh, Cynthia!"

Oh shit. That scary looking, creeper trainer on the other side who seemed to radiate danger was Cynthia! "Cynthia?" I shouted, "Did I miss something?" She snarled, took out a single pokéball, and hissed, "Yes you did! Prepare to die you son of a bitch!" What in the hell did I do to her? Didn't matter; she had pokémon and I did not, and that was not going to be considered fair in my book. "Oh yes, Jack, almost forgot," the yellow suited snagger shouted, "you should probably get your best out, because this will not be a clean match."

I reached down to realize that my belt had suddenly been returned to me, and when he stated my best, I knew that I needed, much rather, my smartest. I unveiled the pokéball, and then shouted, "Go, Keniblaze!" Keniblaze popped out from the pokéball, landed in front of me, and glanced back towards me. "Jack, Cynthia and her pokémon have been transformed; I cannot guarantee that this will not turn gruesome, "he warned, "should I use aura?"

Keniblaze was one of those special, one in a kind non-shinies that seemed to come with a package all their own. Simply said, Keniblaze proved quite capable at using aura ever since he evolved into a combusken in battle. Although it had been in a sparring match with Wes when he was on his Hoenn tour, he only used his skilled umbreon against my somewhat newer torchic. He figured it was fair, since he was not going to seriously battle, but toy with me moreover. His umbreon probably thought the same thing, as it basically played with my struggling torches.

Eventually in rage, I attacked Wes, and since he was still far taller than me, was in a losing battle. While we were fighting, however, a yelp was heard, and when we tore apart from each other, I realized that umbreon was being stepped on by a combusken. Long story short, I saved his startled umbreon, I got an evolved pokémon and a little respect from the hero of Orre.

I was shaken from my flashback quite literally when a punch landed me right on my jaw. I hit the ground hard, stunned, and as Cynthia was moving in for the kill, she was roughly kicked away by Keniblaze. "You can't exactly stand around and daydream in this fight!" Keniblaze snarled as he turned towards an oncoming lucario, "I'm facing two lucario; you need to deal with Cynthia!" I slowly staggered to my feet. I didn't know that Cynthia could pack such a punch!

Keniblaze was kicking, punching, clawing, pecking... Doing pretty much anything to fend off Cynthia's two lucario (speaking of, I thought she only had one... WTF? Did she steal that lucario she was supposed to be training?) While I was pretty much jumping and twisting to avoid Cynthia's raging attacks. "Stand and fight like a man you jerk!" Cynthia snarled as we began circling, "no wonder Keniblaze fights on his own terms; you don't even know how to fight yourself!" To be honest, I had not had to work the art of it myself in a while, but to be told that by a slightly foaming at the mouth former champion stung a bit. "The hell do you know?" I shouted, "You get to babysit and steal pokémon for a living while I have to earn and snag them!" "At least your pokémon haven't been turned into fighting machines!" Cynthia cried, "And guess what; I'm going to make you pay for it!" "What did I do to have that happen?"

Cynthia rushed me, forcing me to the ground while I tried to hold her off with my feet. "Man, you have quite the temper!" I cackled as I held her mouth away from me, "I bet your bite is just as bad!" She barked, and I finally decided that I had had enough of this. I head-butted her, and when our heads connected, there was a pretty loud crack with a rather painful repercussion. She rolled off to the side, and I held my forehead, rose to my feet, and staggered a bit. Cynthia recovered faster, however, and swept my feet from underneath me, pinned me, and suddenly began charging a black aura sphere.

Well this sucked. I knew if that thing connected, it was going to hurt, especially at this distance. I heard Keniblaze shout, "Jack, do something or else you are not going to be around to see me kick doggy ass!" Well, at least someone, type advantage and all, was winning their fight...

Lugia, now surrounded by underwater currents, found it unusually comforting that the water flow was going slowly. Normally she preferred fast currents, but that was beside the point. Why exactly was she feeling so calm? As if someone had literally forced upon her everything that seemed so right. Lugia opened her mouth, an unfortunate barboach wandering inside. As she closed it, the poor creature realized it was in a trap; far too late as Lugia chewed the small snack.

Then again... Wait, was that Kyogre approaching? Lugia couldn't easily tell, as she was so far underwater, but that general shape did belong to Kyogre. However, the coloration seemed off somehow. Normally Kyogre was dominantly blue, but the approaching one was dominantly red. The eyes seemed to look like a dark yellow rather than bright yellow, and usually Kygore would not even dare approach her side of the ocean. Then again, as guardian of the sea, it was bound to happen right?

"Hey!" Lugia shouted telepathically, "what's up?" "Bite me!" Kyogre viciously retorted on the same channel, "either you wake up and smell the roses or just DIE!" Well, that was a new tone. "Did I miss something?" "Do you not remember anything about yourself?" "Um, my name is Lugia, and I am to guard the seas because a single wingbeat..." "Besides that crap you have been fed for so long!" This too was new. "What are you referring to?" Kyogre at this point swam ever faster towards Lugia, jaws agape, teeth bared in its approach. Lugia, confused, missed the warning sign and the Kyogre bit down hard on Lugia's wing.

Naturally it hurt, and Lugia yowled, nearly breaking her psychic hold on the space around her head, which would have nigh instantly drowned her considering how far down she was. Something clicked in her mind, something that had not emerged in a long time. Hungrily, viciously, she brought her injured left wing, Kyogre still attached, closer to her person. She then opened her jaws and bit down hard on Kyogre. "Yes, that is the idea..." Kyogre cried out as Lugia began attempting to rip the very fins from Kyogre, "that's it, just a little more..."

Lugia immediately knew that there was something different about what she was doing. It wasn't like the guardian of the sea to attack the king of the sea... It just didn't fit in well. However, Kyogre did not taste half bad, and already she had nearly torn off a rather large piece around her. The blood of her quarry was blocking her visual capabilities, but that did not matter anymore; she was in an airtight bubble now, and now only the desire to feed was on her mind.

With a single, powerful jerk, Lugia tore off Kyogre's entire left fin, munching down as she attempted to grind it into smaller, more chewable pieces. Kyogre howled in pain as it flailed in a weak attempt to escape. Despite her mind telling her that it was all sorts of wrong, her body was on fire, demanding more of the legendary fish, raw or cooked, dead or alive.

Mewtwo grinned as he patiently contemplated at Gateon Port. The setting sun and everything... It was going to be quite the experience. "Glad that there is water proof paint?" Mewtwo joked as Lugia's almost barbaric attack under the sea continued, seen in a pool of water, "and of course my ability to deceive and project images right?" Kyogre chuckled. Indeed, it was glad that its blue counterpart had been given the short end of the stick. "Why is this necessary though?" a clearly sickened Latias demanded, "There was no need for such needless bloodshed!" "Now you sound like Cresselia..." Mewtwo groaned, "Listen, once Lugia reawakens her wild side, it will only be a matter of time before she and Shade can..." "You do realize that is his daughter right?" Latias interjected with a hint of disgust. "He doesn't know that." "But we do, and that would make it wrong to even push things in that direction!" "Who cares about morals when you are out to conquer the world?" "You just sicken me..." "Shut it you two!"

Latios growled in intervention, "Unlike the rest of you here who are either enjoying this sadistic shit or are playing pacifist, I am trying to learn something about lugias." "What do you need to learn besides don't fuck with them underwater?" Kyogre joked, "Especially if you have a fishy tang about you." Latios rolled his eyes in irritation, and then continued to watch the gruesome scene through the water. "It seems that it is clear that a lugia does have a capacity for breathing underwater..." Latios mumbled as a note. "Well, good work sherlock, one lives under the water so I'm sure they have such capabilities," Kyogre retorted, "seriously, must you take everything as a discovery?"

"You must understand that this lugia has been underwater far longer than Shade ever was," Latios explained, "clearly while Shade is far more adapted to the air, his daughter, ironically enough, is more adapted to life at sea. Even if the two were to accidently end up inbreeding, they would never be capable of ruling together because of their different habitats." Mewtwo suddenly seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. "If the two cannot rule together, then how in the world are we supposed to establish a 'balance'?" "I guess you will have to change plans," Kyogre suggests, "I mean, in all out seriousness..." "On the contrary," Latios interjected, "the plan can still be implemented IF, and only if, we can bring back the true Gislea." "Why would we want to do that?" Mewtwo suddenly blurted with a strong hint of terror. Kyogre, Latios, and even Latias looked at Mewtwo.

"Um, is there something wrong with bringing back the Emperor's mate?" Latios asked, "I mean, that is sort of our job right now; restore both the Emperor AND the Empress." "Well, it isn't that I don't want her back..." Mewtwo started till he was cut off by a ferocious roar. All attention returned to the pool of water. Lugia roared viciously, and there was nothing left of Kyogre to tell the tale of what happened in the time that the observers had been watching. Lugia then looked practically right at Kyogre. "You're for dinner!" Kyogre screamed a most feminine scream, leapt back into the water, and sped off in sheer terror. Lugia cackled. "Don't think I don't know what you did Mewtwo," Lugia threatened, "because even as an egg, I know precisely what you did!"

Mewtwo shuddered as the image faded into oblivion. Latios and Latias looked towards Mewtwo curiously. "What did you do?" Latias asked. After getting no response, Latios asked more sternly, "Mewtwo... Is there something you are not telling us?" "No!" Mewtwo practically shouted, "No I am not!" "Okay," Latias said, that being enough, "just watch your back; I think Gislea is pissed." "I wonder why..." Latios murmured suspiciously, "we'd best go find Mr. scared fishy before Lugia does."

_Eh? Was it worth the wait? Read and Reivew: I DO realize it looks like i really crammed i alot into one chapter, with this being my longest one yet, but this should satisfy you all till I find a way to get my NEXT chapter going. And PLEASE in yoru reviews point out any ludicrious spelling mistakes that I may or may not keep making, because it took quite the time to actually spell check and grammer check this whole thing! And if you disagree with the title after all of this, go ahead and let me know._


	10. Chapter 10 'Setting the Stage'

**Chapter 10**

_It occurred to me that this was getting long, word wise. Were I to decidedly print it all out spacing and chapter breaks included, I would have 50+ pages. So yeah... no wonder receiving reviews takes longer. xD _

Doggy ass. Even now I wonder why that in particular rang in my head as my life flashed before my very eyes. However, it wasn't one of those flashbacks like in the movies, where everything goes as a movie; it was quite literally a flash of white, a few images appearing here and there, and then reality hitting again. I had no idea that Cynthia could even use aura, but she could, and with a raised arm and a glowing aura sphere, was readying to finish the fight.

I did the instinctive thing that a sixteen year old about to get owned by a fierce opponent would do; I closed my eyes and awaited the end. A roar sounded, however, and as the heat of the aura sphere could be felt near my face, it vanished, Cynthia's weight was removed from me, and there was another roar. The second time, however, the roar shook the ground, and alerted to me that it was safe to reopen my eyes.

High above, swirling purple clouds parted where a blue and silver creature descended, roaring quite fiercely. Behind it emerged a pink and white beast, also roaring, followed finally by a somewhat more elegantly descending deity that literally radiated authority. And when it spoke, I felt compelled to listen, although I would have much rather paid attention to reactions nearby.

"Listen all of you!" Arceus shouted, "Go home and do not leave your homes, no matter what you hear outside." "Easy for you to say," a large, actually rather humanoid looking creature said, emerging from practically nowhere, "your home isn't under threat." Arceus shot Regigas quite the fierce look, growled a bit, then turned back towards everyone else. "Return to your homes, and I shall undo the damage done here."

Surprisingly enough, despite shuffling and some hesitance, practically everyone went on to do their thing. Save for Cynthia, who was now on the ground, two lucario, one out cold on the ground and the other pinned down by Keniblaze, and of course yours truly staring stunned and in awe into the sky. Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, and Regigas quickly gathered around, and I couldn't help but feel irritated that most of my gear was still in Team Snagem's hands.

"Thanks for saving my hide back there," I muttered gently as Cynthia began shaking off whatever had forced her off in the first place. Arceus ignored me and much rather asked Cynthia, "How are you feeling?" Oh, yeah, the guy who got attacked is just feeling peachy, so let's ask the one who was doing the owning! Man, life just was not fair sometimes! "Still quite... Out of it really," Cynthia grumbled as she staggered to her feet, "I don't know what came over me." "I do, but those details can wait," Arceus said, "any other shadows should be coming around now."

Apparently when he said shadows, he meant any shadow pokémon, because the two lucario Keniblaze had been facing started either stirring (the one on the ground) or calming down (the pinned one). It didn't take me long to figure out which one was her original lucario and the one that she was supposedly just training. "What happened to them?" I asked Arceus, "I mean, really, were they all turned into shadow pokémon or trainers or whatever?"

With all the nerve of the animal body, Arceus ignored me once again, checking Cynthia for any further injuries. It was Regigas who answered. "Technically, not by your definition no they weren't, "it explained, "it is a long story to tell, but right now we have a region to save." "Well, our main focus really was finding Giratina and Shade," Dialga silently added, "but we got sidetracked when there were four aura spheres going on in the same general location." Ah, that explained what caught their attention.

"Alright Arceus, I'm fine," Cynthia growled as Arceus gave her a fifth look-over, "you need to go ahead and focus on those who have been injured all over the region." "Do I look like God to you?" Arceus stated bluntly, "Because if so, I may need to change my appearance." "Well, I'm sure you are not here just to snap us all out of our moods." "No, but you do need to realize that I am not a miracle worker nowadays..." "Alright then fine then, I just wanted to make you aware that you are wasting time right now." By this point it occurred to me that any prisoners would probably be wondering what in the world was going on, but as I saw Wes walking in this general direction with Cambray and a large group of prisoners and a bunch of random stuff, it occurred to me that obviously I had nothing to be concerned about as far as prisoners were concerned.

"Well well, the cavalry is here!" Wes joked as he took in the presence of so many Sinnoh legends, "now we can start reclaiming what is ours." "Not quite," Palkia corrected, "we are not here to win your war." "Now hold on a second, this thing started with you all!" I accused, "Now you are saying that this is 'our' war when you are the ones who started this from the get-go?" Arceus suddenly reared towards me, literally making me jump a few feet back. "Listen Jack, I really could care less who can be considered to be blamed here, but you had best check your own backyard before you dare call out the status of mine!" Arceus practically hissed, his spittle practically knocking me from my feet.

I didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but Arceus, along with his deity friends, mumbled farewell something, then left almost the same way they arrived. I was now left with Cynthia, Keniblaze, and two lucario. Wes and the prisoners had already begun leaving, and anyone else that would have been here clearly was long gone. I decided it was best to patch things up first with the trainer. However, before doing that, I spotted a lone backpack that had been randomly left where the mass of prisoners once stood. I went over to it, nabbed it, found pretty much all my stuff still inside, then went over to patch things up with Cynthia.

"Yeah, about that..." "It is alright Jack; I thoroughly enjoyed beating the shit out of you." "Not a single stain of crap left my crack." "It is an expression."" I know, but I am merely pointing out the fact that you failed..."" Just apologize and we can get this over with." "Tell me again how I am so deeply involved in this and why I am the one supposed to apologize?" "The higher ups who ordered this include quite the number coming from your family." "So blame me for what my bloodline did?" "Fine, maybe that is unfair; let's go Cinlaria, Lucas."

Lucas was on his feet quickly, then growled at Keniblaze, who seemed to have been chatting with Cinlaria during this whole exchange, and returned to Cynthia's side. Keniblaze finished muttering something, Cinlaria growled in a rather friendly, almost cute manner, then the two parted, Keniblaze smirking as he approached me. "Well, this will be quite the story to tell once we get our party together..." he announced." "Gang is all here," I announced as I checked the pokéballs on my belt, "let's make tracks!"

As the last rays of sunlight vanished over the horizon, Arctic whimpered gently. Paralyzed, incapable of movement, Zap had zapped him near mercilessly, although Arctic had thought a few beams of ice would have stopped the tenacious bird pokémon. Once again, he had been proved wrong.

Zap snickered as he chewed various Oran berries, retrieved from constant runners. "You see Arctic, I am sorry it had to happen the way it did, but that is just the way it is in the real world," Zap explained, "the weak are dominated, and the strong thrive." "I guess that would explain why I was still chosen as trio leader," Molten cackled as the fiery bird made his appearance, appearing to be a yellow colored, bird shaped sun with red trails.

"Ah, what took you so long?" Zap asked, "let me guess; you got lost, or decided to pick on a Gengar for messing with a helpless human?" Molten glared at Zap as it corrected, "Quite actually, I came to teach you a lesson about messing with Arctic." "You cannot protect Arctic forever bro," Zap stated, "Arctic needs to be capable of defeating me with ease. His type advantage should have brought him the win."

Molten overlooked a greatly bruised, cut, and burned Arctic with a careful eye. "How do you like my handiwork?" Zap boasted, "I should personally have embedded my initials." Molten snapped his beak, and then flapped his wings frantically. "Listen Zap, I don't want to have to put you down like the mad beast you have become..." Molten warned, "But do not think I am above that." "You think you're bad?" goaded Zap, "then bring it on fire bird!"

Molten, knowing that directly attacking Zap would resulting in a shocking repercussion, inhaled, then exhaled bright orange flames towards Zap. Zap easily dodged the attack, and then screeched into the air, announcing the battle. Static electricity began surrounding Zap as he began maneuvering past Molten's flames towards Molten's stationary self. Molten ceased his flames just in time for Zap to dive down towards him in full electric glory.

Just as it seemed as if Molten would be brought down, the bird suddenly flashed a bright white light, and as Zap supposedly made contact with Molten, it was repelled, flying halfway across the coliseum into one of the columns. Pokémon scattered as the bird landed roughly on the ground as Molten bellowed, "Come on Zap, surely you haven't forgotten how to use that head of yours!" Zap shook its head furiously and returned to its feet.

Beating Molten, who probably used mirror coat against it, was not going to be as easy as beating Arctic, unless of course Zap could use his electric attacks. And unfortunately, the strongest of his attacks couldn't be used right now, as he either needed a lightning storm or launch an attack that could result in another painful counter-attack from Molten. Zap eventually figured that he couldn't use his type advantage right now; he needed to instead work with his inner bird.

Molten stared down Zap as once again it began charging towards him at full flight speed. However, since Zap was not surrounded in electricity, Molten could very well expect a flying attributed move, which meant that his brother had learned quickly about this particular fight. Molten took to the air, and then dove down towards Zap, the two headed for a straight head on collision.

Prior to the two actually crashing into each other, Zap suddenly began sparking. In the middle of an attack, Zap figured that there was no chance that Molten would be capable of using mirror coat to deflect him so strongly this time. Molten much rather opened his beak and unleashed orange-red flames that soon engulfed the sparking Zapdos in fire. Despite the intensity of the heat, seemingly amplified by his own electric attack, Zap continued on his course, eventually striking Molten right below his neck. Molten cried out in both shock and surprise, and then tumbled towards the ground.

Zap, wincing from the serious burns all over its body, quickly descended towards his fallen foe. Cautiously, Zap landed next to Molten, who was sending sparks onto the ground. "Well, look how the mighty have fallen," Zap teased as he placed his foot upon Molten's neck, "I suppose I can't risk you burning the feathers off of me, so I guess I'd best finish this..." Zap suddenly grew rigid, its pupils growing small, its wings stiffly frozen into place. Molten smiled, easily removing Zap's foot from his person, resulting in the rigid Zap to fall to the ground like a statue.

"Indeed, look how the mighty have fallen," Molten spat, nailing Zap in his open beak, "I'm sure you are wondering how that happened." Zap could only gurgle in response as a shocked Arctic looked towards Molten in surprise. "Extrasensory has quite the nasty effect on the high strung," Molten explained while walking around Zap, "but of course, since you prefer to always zap your opponents or kill them with that beak of yours, you wouldn't have taken note of that fact that I didn't forget that move." Zap gurgled once again, this time rather irately as it stared down Molten. "Now listen up!" Molten shouted to the onlookers, "This bird will remain here till the sun rises yet again. Unless you wish to join your jackass leader, I suggest you release the humans and their pokémon."

There were protests, but as Molten shot blue flames into the air, most began quickly shuffling to obey. Molten then looked towards Arctic. "Arceus has returned," Molten sighed, "and when he finds us, he is not going to be happy. Once you are restored, link up with Suicune on Citidark Island for extraction." "Extraction? Where to?" Arctic asked, "I am not going back to the islands without you and Zap." Molten chuckled. "You are not going back to the islands; on my way here, I met up with a certain man who seems to know much about some secret opponents who so far have been screwing with our trio master. I want you to meet up with this man, trainer I might add, Suicune, and another so that you can explain to Shade and Rita what is going on."

"But why me in particular?" Arctic asked, "I was defeated... By Zap of all creatures..." "Let it go for now Arctic," Molten ordered, "you have the rest of your life for a rematch; right now, I need you to do this thing. Lugia is in grave danger. Lugia always took an odd liking to you, so you may be needed when all hell breaks loose." Arctic, unwilling to continue to argue, nodded, and as Molten began screeching orders here and there, Arctic took one last look at Zap. _A single move did that..._ Arctic mused thoughtfully over as **clefairy** gathered with strange plants...

Ho-Oh suddenly awoke to a very startled sounding noise. Peeking open an eye, Ho-Oh managed to spot Uxie, a shocked expression on its face. This was a new thing for a being that supposedly knew everything. "What is the matter Uxie?" Azelf inquired, "It is most unlike you to be shocked." "Arceus has done something unexpected," Uxie explained, "he has officially come to Orre to intervene. And you all know who he brought along."

Rita had seemingly nodded off, but the second Ho-Oh dared stretch a wing, Rita's eyes turned to slits, a slight glow being given off as she revealed her continued vigil. Were it not for shame, Ho-Oh would have fled by now, but something was keeping her here. Something continued to keep Ho-Oh here, but she didn't know what... Till quite suddenly a familiar pair of eyes appeared.

Even in the dark cave, it was not hard to see glowing red eyes; in fact, even a human could have probably spotted the red orbs. However, what confused Ho-Oh was who those eyes belong to. "It's okay Suicune, I know you've been there for the past five minutes," Rita grumbled, "I'm sure you came to speak with your trio master." Well what a shocker; without even looking, Rita had managed to identify Suicune... Who shouldn't be here of all places!

Suicune led Ho-Oh outside the cave, and as Ho-Oh disappeared from sight, the light tension seemed to be released from the cave. Apparently she had made Rita tense, and as a result, the entire room took on that feeling. "What's up?" Ho-Oh inquired, somewhat mellow after her nap, "Suicune, is there something wrong?"

Suicune glanced to Ho-Oh, and without warning, suddenly began wailing, burying its entire head into Ho-Oh's feathered torso. Confused, yet concerned, Ho-Oh decided to let Suicune get her piece out before pushing for further details.

Suicune finished, wiped her muzzle with her paws, then gently said, "I... I don't know what to do." "Well, for one thing, once Arceus..." Ho-Oh began until a sudden chill ran up her spine. She went rigid, body entirely straight, her head set in attention. Eventually getting over the intense feeling, Ho-Oh continued, "Well, now that Arceus seems to be here, I suppose we'd best find Entei and Raikou and regroup with him." "I found them," Suicune quietly reported, "I found them just one floor up." Well then, that made things easier; chances were that was Raikou who shrieked after realizing where he had been dumped. "Alright then, let's go get them!" Ho-Oh suggested, "Rita has been keeping her eye on me ever since I was brought here."

As Ho-Oh managed to physically relax her body, which went rigid whenever Arceus made an appearance within the region she was in, she noted the look of withholding within Suicune's face. "Suicune, come on out with it, what is wrong?" Ho-Oh impatiently demanded, "Tell me this very instant!" "Raikou and Entei..." Suicune started, "the two of them..." Suicune was not going quite fast enough for Ho-Oh, so she decided to intervene. "The two of them were fighting again? That only means that they have been uninjured." "They mated!" Suicune half shouted, half blurted out, angrily staring down Ho-Oh, "Alright? They firkin mated with each other!"

A gasp was heard from the cave entrance, and as Ho-Oh for the first time noticed that they were actually rather close to the entrance and its nosy inhabitants. The darkening sky above aided the suddenly darkened mood, the crashing waves on the igneous rock that was the island's makeup representing the sudden force that had been brought down to Ho-Oh. Mated? That was... Impossible! If anything, Raikou and Entei were just simply incompatible as friendlies... What reason would they have had to mate? Or even get that close to each other without tackling?

Ho-Oh nearly lost her balance as the reality of the situation sunk in. If two of her legendary charges had mated, then that left an odd one out; not only that, Arceus would tan her a few darker shades of red for allowing this to happen. "Are you sure?" stammered Ho-Oh, "are you absolutely sure?" "Yes," Suicune confirmed, still staring down Ho-Oh, "the real question is, what you will do about it?"

'Star bright, star light, grant me this one wish; I wish to bend power to my greatest wielding, to become a beacon for the people I so desire to protect... Give me the power to defend my ever changing friend!' These words continued to haunt Mewtwo even as the search for the red Kyogre continued. Latios and Latias, both inverses in their natural respective colors, joined him. They had searched all of the major waterways of Orre, which really only meant they had checked the ocean area near Orre. No sign of him. Not a single fin.

Worst of all, Latios every now and again would attempt to probe his mind, gently, most likely in an attempt to discover what he did that made Gislea's spirit so furious. Of course, once Arceus found out that he had a direct hand in the death of one of his ancients; it was not going to be a pretty picture for him that was certain. Especially if red Kyogre was also eaten; that would be double trouble, as he would be reprimanded by both his enemies and his allies.

As a result, Mewtwo found it to be of paramount importance to find Kyogre. "Any sign of him?" Mewtwo asked once again as the trio of searchers flew over the ocean, "anything?" "I am afraid not," Latias reported, "we should split up." "We have a killer Lugia somewhere probably just waiting for us to do that," Latios objected, "we can take her if we are together; separately, we are sitting ducks." "What about Shade?" Mewtwo inquired, "Where is he?" "Ever since Rita and Shade left the underground cavern with Groudon, I have not been able to detect him at all," Latios grumbled, "it would seem that some powerful psychics do not want us to locate him."

Mewtwo suddenly stopped, then began hovering over the water. "This endless searching will do no good," Mewtwo retorted, "we need a new tactic." "I'm open to ideas!" Latias exclaimed, "Maybe we can try to bring him to us!" "Or better yet, keep moving," Latios warned, "he is fleeing out of terror, which means that he is likely not going to be slowing down anytime soon." Mewtwo chuckled as the two ancient eon pokémon flew down to his level. "Nightfall," Mewtwo sighed as he noticed the sun's final rays vanishing, "there is no way we can find him in the dark." "Then let's go back!" Latios half shouted, "We might as well make base in Gateon Port; the place was nigh deserted last time we were there."

Mewtwo nodded, and the trio vanished in teleport, unaware that a frightened legendary was practically directly below them. "I knew it was a bad idea!" Kyogre murmured, "Man, she is not going to be happy at all once we meet in Arceus' hall as spirits... In fact, I think I might be getting deported..." Kyogre continued to frantically swim downwards, completely in tuned to any sounds that the ocean dared to present as danger.

Without warning, Kyogre suddenly felt restricted, incapable of movement, almost as if being slowly crushed. Kyogre yelped as a flash of white covered his vision. Practically ready to scream, Kyogre began flailing, but to no avail as it grew weaker and weaker from some unseen force draining its energy. "Shush, it's going to be okay Kyogre," a voice crooned, "it is going to be okay. My daughter won't eat you as long as you cooperate." As the last bits of ocean depth vanishes from Kyogre's vision, and the reality that it was trapped forced the shaking ancient to close his eyes fearfully.

"Now listen carefully Kyogre," the voice crooned once again in a soothing tone, "I know what you want, and that is to live. And for that, I will need you to release your fear." "Easy for you to say Gislea," Kyogre whispered, "you have the upper fin here." The voice cackled, "Listen, Arceus is going to try to finish what he started, the second he finds Uxie and Shade. Now, you can surrender all allegiances save for yourself and me, live, and thrive in an ocean where food is in constant supply. OR..." "Or what?" Kyogre dared asked, "Or what?" "Or you can join Latios, Latias, and Mewtwo in providing energy for my resurrection," the voice answered, "or, if I do not deem you so worthy, I can use you as bait. Your choice really."

Arceus contemplated, attempting to extend his aura throughout the Orre region. Atop of Mount Battle, a war torn and weary battle arena his stage, he focused on the entire region, searching for Shade. For some odd reason, all of Citidark Island was completely cloaked; that meant that the Lake Guardians and more importantly Giratina had to be there. Dialga and Palkia briefly appeared to land on the circular platform, the stars shining above combined with the moon illuminating quite eerily the 100th platform of Mount Battle.

"It makes sense that they would be on Citidark Island," Palkia stated, "Zap seems to have been taken down by Molten, but there are some more disturbing news to report." "Well?" Arceus asked impatiently, "make your report before Zekrom and Reshiram make theirs. The four of you talking at once actually does give me a headache." "Lugia is near Orre," Dialga sighed, "worst of all, Gislea is there too." "Impossible, Gislea is dead." "I hate to break it to you Arceus, but ghosts do exist," Palkia retorted, "not only that we are talking about a really pissed off ghost." "Surely she can't still be sore that I would work with the humans just to bring her and Shade down is she?"

"I think you can answer that yourself Arceus," a shadowy figure said, "for you know that you can destroy the body, but not the soul." Arceus opened his eyes briefly, and then said in greeting, "Hello Darkrai, I was beginning to wonder when you would show up. Did you bring her here?" "Well, it was either that or continue to let her wreak havoc in my realm," Darkrai explained, "and if she would have done that, you would have quite the ghostly foe on after you." "He already does," Reshiram said as it arrived on the scene, "Gislea's presence is more than a bit ghostly nowadays." "Indeed," Zekrom reported, "we managed to shake things up in Pyrite while Molten was gone, but since you specifically said don't slaughter or massacre, we couldn't really uproot them." Arceus sighed, and then turned towards the group.

"Shade is no longer top priority, and Mewtwo is a small fry compared to our changing target," Arceus announced, "at all costs we have to stop Gislea!" "How?" Dialga said, "Without Jirachi, we can't exactly wish her out of existence, and since Celebi is a bit out of it, there will be nothing keeping her mind off of vengeance." "And of course we have Team Snagem mobilizing," Palkia sighed, "but that is a human organization..." "Willfully playing straight into Gislea's wings," Arceus sighed, "whether we like it or not, we need to do something about them too." "But Arceus, we have never gotten directly involved in a situation involving human criminal syndicates," Zekrom said, "intervention may very well cause..." "Failing to intervene has gotten us this far!" Arceus snapped, "We need to do something! Pokémon and humans chatting with each other is no accident, and until I discover how in the world it was done..."

"Wait a second," Reshiram exclaimed, "not even you know how they did that?" "I am not even sure a faction did this!" Arceus cried in frustration, "With Uxie literally not responding to me, it is just that much harder to get to the bottom of this!" "Hm, I am getting contact from our agent," Dialga reported, "it seems that Mewtwo is not who we think he is." "What do you mean?" Palkia inquired, "What exactly is that supposed to mean?" "Connect the dots," Dialga retorted, "if Mewtwo is not the artificially created mewtwo that we have been keeping tabs on ever since the Rocket Massacre, then who in the hell do you think this is?" "Where is our mew?" Zekrom suddenly asked Arceus.

"Currently slumbering at Spear Pillar along with Celebi!" Arceus answered, "But what do you mean 'our' mew? There has always been only one mew." An awkward silence brought Arceus' eyes to slits. "Haven't there been?" "Well..." Reshiram started, attracting looks also from Dialga and Palkia, "not quite..." Arceus gritted his teeth, cursing Uxie to the Reverse World for not being communicative when he needed it most. "Well, I guess the elephant in the room is," Palkia blurted, "is this just another thing that you have been unaware of ever since Giratina left you?"

Palkia very quickly realized why no one else brought it up. A flash and the next thing Palkia knew it was on its back at the psychological and physical mercy of Arceus. "You and I both know that has nothing to do with this!" Arceus spat fiercely, "dare to speak of it again and you will regret it!" Palkia said nothing, but the increased pressure on its body very quickly rectified the situation. "Crystal clear sir," gagged Palkia, "Giratina leaving your side had nothing to do with..." Arceus roared, pressed down ever harder on Palkia, and was probably prepared to kill it when Dialga, Zekrom, and Reshiram intervened.

As Zekrom in particular held the pokémon physically, Reshiram tried to weaken Arceus' aura pressure on Palkia, while Dialga tried to get Palkia away from Arceus. Eventually, the two were separated, and as Arceus calmed down, the fiery flames of fury in his eyes clearly made the message clear; do not even mention, or think moreover, of Arceus and Giratina's unfortunate separation, no matter how relevant it was to solving the latest issue...

_I almost hate to break the story, but up next is another 'history' chapter. I felt the time was appropriate to do so, especially with the latest happenings with Arceus. And yeah, I haven't COMPLETELY forgotten about my prologue that stated that Jack was telling the story. Do not worry about that unless I conclude the entire story without telling you. _


	11. Chapter 11 'In Check'

**Chapter 11**

_Yeah, I decided to scrap the history chapter thing altogether. Why? Well, I could use it for a later story related to this entire story, and as I prepare this for 'finishing' status and such, I want this story to be as polished as possible. Thanks for those of you who HAVE been reading and reviewing and keeping up with the story._

_Once again, I do not own Pokémon_ _or any of its canon characteristics. _

The Orre desert in the daytime was unbearable; but the Orre desert at night was torture, especially if you were walking. Temperatures would continue to plummet as the night went on, most likely going below the negatives before long. The only thing keeping me from panicking were my party members, all six of them released from their pokéballs. Why were they so reassuring to me right now? Well, obviously, they were keeping my mind off of the inevitable truth as starry sky and full moon lit up the entirety of the desert sand, which had cooled off at least an hour after the sun had fallen.

Their conversation mostly included their personal exploits prior to becoming a member of the party, and much to my surprise, most of my party had quite the lives before they became a part of my arsenal. "Yeah, before I joined, I was quite the trouble-maker throughout Sinnoh," Emperion boasted, "in fact; my name had been 'troublip' before I was captured by Jack." "What precisely did you do?" Katty inquired, "I would love to hear some of the infamous pranks you pulled!" "Do you want to know why poffins was banned for a whole three months in Hearthome City?" Emperion asked, "anyone?" "I dunno, but it was partly because Jack went crazy in the cooking house and nearly ate them out of business," Agron joked, "seriously, the guy was and probably still is crazy about poffins."

Despite the food being focused on pokémon tastes, I fell in love with it the first time I tried it. I don't have an idea what in the world was in that first poffin I ate, but after that, no poffin was safe near me unless it was bitter. To further elaborate my addiction to poffins, one time Katty had compared my 'situation' equivalent to Emperion's carnal desires. I personally didn't think that it was that serious, until of course that incident. However, last time I checked, Emperion had been a member of my party during that time, and, as a result, his claim would be invalid.

Cambrai caught this about the same time as I did. "Now hold on a second, if it were that recently, then weren't you a part of Jack's party by then, since he got you before he even officially set foot on Sinnoh?" Cambrai explained, "and if that were the case, you can't boast about that exploit!" "Now hold on a second that was not the first time the house had been shut down!" Emperion argued defensively, "it had been shut down one time before when I did this!" "Really?" I interjected, "Emperion, I have known you to make up things before just to make yourself greater than you are; are you doing that now?"

Apparently not wanting Emperion to get the critical statements that he so properly deserved at this point, Keniblaze intervened. "I used to be a part of a territorial gang back in Hoenn." Everyone suddenly stopped, even Meta, save for Keniblaze. I, naturally, had been the center of the group, and as a result, somewhat directed our movements from there. Directly in front of me was Agron, because he knew the desert far better than I did, to my right Katty and Cambrai, and to my left Keniblaze and Emperion. Trailing behind was Meta, who, as usual, wasn't really up to joining the discussion. However, even it stopped when Keniblaze said that.

"No way!" Agron said in disbelief," YOU were a part of a territorial gang?" "Bullcrap," Cambrai accused, "prove it!" I would have believed him either way, but Keniblaze shrugged, then turned around and pointed to the nape of his neck. "There you will see the outline of 'BZR', short name of Blaze's Raiders," Keniblaze explained, "Jack if you please?" Eagerly I stepped up behind Keniblaze, and after some initial searching, there, completely out of place, was a missing group of feathers that indeed read 'BZR' in all caps. "It's there," I exclaimed, "who was Blaze?"

Keniblaze turned back around, ignoring my question, and instead continuing, "Back in those days, I had been a tough little combusken that pretty much got whatever I wanted as long as the group was with me. It was a nice life, because in Hoenn, we pretty much roamed, owning almost instantly wherever we happened to settle for a few weeks."

"How many members were in the group?" Agron asked as he directed us to begin moving again as a chilling wind passed through, "including you." "Just three," Keniblaze answered, "Myself, a mightyena, and an arcanine made up this group." "Weird, why would those fully grown pokémon let you hang out with them?" Katty asked, "that doesn't make sense." "I could use aura, which was quite rare, and as a fire type, I could easily take on their most dangerous rivals," Keniblaze explained, "fighting and steel types." "But that arcanine could easily take on a steel type," I argued, "why would they need you that much?"

Keniblaze chuckled, as he explained further, "The only fighting and steel type that you have ever known to kick the butt of an arcanine is a lucario right?" "Yeah, I saw Cynthia completely own that trainer on Sinnoh's Victory Road who thought he had her cornered," I said, "she was down to her last pokémon, but that male lucario of hers knows how to pack a punch." "Well, essentially, there were a group of three lucario who made up their own roaming group," Keniblaze continued, "essentially that group used to always beat the crud out of the other members till I showed up." "How did you honestly tip the balance that much?" I asked, "I mean, I know now that you could beat two crazy lucario on your own but back then?"

"The element of surprise the first time we met," Keniblaze laughed, "to be honest, had they known that I could use aura the first time we met, things would have went differently." "What happened?" Meta timidly asked, barely being heard over sudden scowling of Emperion. "Well, while they were focused primarily on taking out my large counterparts, I pretty much aura sphered them one by one," Keniblaze recounted, "only one of them actually needed to be hit three times, the others being taken out in one shot."

"That must have been your signature move or something," Emperion spat, "otherwise I find that hard to swallow." "It was, actually, and still is to a certain degree," Keniblaze cheerfully agreed, "although, I think the fighting nature of the move is probably what did them in rather than pure strength." "That is still rather impressive, especially considering it's true," Cambrai said while shifting a gaze towards Emperion. Emperion growled, though Agron decided it was his turn next.

"Well, since I am the only one here who is completely and utterly native to Orre," Agron began, "I suppose it would be appropriate to tell you about me next." "Agron, I'm native to Orre too," I pointed out. "Yeah, but we all already know enough about you," Agron jeered, "we don't need to hear more." I rolled my eyes as we began the cresting of an unusually large hill.

"Well, as you can imagine, I used to live here, roaming wild and free in Orre before Jack showed up on the scene," Agron began, eyes flashing towards a different time and place, apparently having a flashback, "the desert was home, and the colony consisting of my own species was my family." "Where..." Cambrai began before Agron viciously growled, "Wait till I finish before asking _any_ questions got it?" Cambrai was effectively silenced, and I was surprised that she could actually be silenced by such means.

"Anyway, within the colony, I lived a pretty normal life till Snagem showed up," Agron said, "as an aron, the arrival of Snagem wasn't all that significant to me." "Team Snagem invaded your colony's home?" I inquired, rather surprised, "why didn't you ever say anything?" "I said don't interrupt!" shouted Agron, giving me the evil eye, "one more word out of any of you..." "Everyone be quiet!" Meta hissed, "and get down!"

The S.S Libra, as previously stated, had become the center piece for a large oasis, and as a result, news of Arceus' arrival into Orre had brought a large amount of worry over the group. The lack of hearing from any of their commanders also concerned them to an extent, as they had expected this to be a well-organized, constantly managed affair. As a result, however, this also meant there was an unprecedented amount of free time, since food was nearby and water could easily be accessed. Games of various natures were ongoing throughout, some involving deep down strategy while others merely needed at least a one pair of legs and some energy to play.

This army in particular had just returned from the ruins of what used to be the Realgam Tower, taken down earlier in the day while the attacks on Phenac and Pyrite were going on. While more than a few prisoners had been taken, there were also many new recruits from the Tower itself, mostly pokémon who had been on "reserve" for those who did not own pokémon of their own, but still wanted to participate in a real battle. Essentially, a function similar to the Battle Factory, but clearly different as you had to pay for the rentals.

Alongside the games and activity, serious business was also being conducted, including the exchange of loot and plunder, prisoners, information both factual and rumor in nature, and mere gentle conversation. Keeping the peace were self-appointed vigilantes, along with self-appointed guards who kept a watch out for danger. All of this being done within the lights of small fires that had been lit here and there to illuminate their going ons.

All of this could be observed from the top of the high dune that we rested upon, the starlight and the bonfires below revealing the gathering below. "So much for vicious," Meta joked, "they look rather friendly to me." "That is because they are among friendlies, " I pointed out, "if I were to poke my head out anymore I think a different scene would be seen below." "It doesn't appear as if they are aware of our presence," Agron stated, "although, I wonder where that oasis came from." "What I want to know is what they are using for fuel in those fires," Cambrai asked, wrinkling her nose, "whatever it is, it smells awful."

That was a good indication that they were not merely burning wood or grass, but I didn't want to go down and ask what exactly they were burning. "Alright, any ideas on how to snag their food?" I asked as I peered below, "because I'm starved." "Hm, well, I could always walk down and ask," Meta suggested, "considering my size, I am pretty sure they aren't going to mess with me." "Don't be too hasty," Agron warned, "considering your nature Meta, it would be best if you stayed here and kept an eye on Jack while the rest of us head down and investigate."

"Now hold on a second!" Meta exclaimed, "what about my nature means I should stay here and keep an eye on Jack?" "Keep your metallic voice down Meta!" hissed Katty, "do you want Jack to get strung up by his back?" An awkward silence followed the rhyme before Emperion said, "Alright, we can all go down except for Jack. Regardless, I'm going down to get me some before the night is over." "Emperion, you do realize that one or two of them may recognize you from Pyrite right?" Keniblaze interjected, "if they do, then there might be trouble."

As a small argument was about to erupt over who went and who stayed, I finally just exclaimed, "Alright then, here's the deal; Keniblaze will stay up here with me while the rest of you go down and get some action or whatever!" I decreed, "anyone who disagrees can go back into a pokéball." Emperion quickly launched himself from the dune, sliding down the dune on his stomach as if he were gliding through water instead of sand, not one to stick around to be condemned to the pokéball. Agron, Katty, and Cambrai followed more carefully behind, leaving Meta and Keniblaze behind.

Meta, apparently just wanting to irritate me, smiled smugly and stated, "I disagree with your arrangement." I blinked, smugly smiled back at it, and stated, "Well then, I guess that automatically delegates you to stick with me then." Meta frowned (trust me, the four legged metal pokémon looked quite creepy frowning when in the dark) and muttered something underneath its breath. As tempted as I was to return it to its pokéball, it was quite clear that by doing so, I would give him what he wanted; and if he wanted to irritate the crap out of me, then there was no need to give him what he wanted.

Keniblaze sighed as he gave one last look down the dune before he slid down into cover. "Well Jack, whether you like it or not, you can't just stay here; it is rather cold out here, and you don't exactly have a nice, comfortable pokéball to return to." As usual, he had a good point; if I did just stay up here in these Sinnoh clothes (there are no extensive deserts in the mainland of Sinnoh) I would certainly freeze to death within a few hours. Then again, I couldn't risk going down there, and our guide was getting his freak on next to a bonfire.

"Jack, if I may make a suggestion," Meta stated, "wouldn't it be better if you were captured? At least then they would ensure you do not become a Popsicle." "I think they would actually let him freeze so they could eat him," Keniblaze said, shaking his head, "seems like we are in quite the situation." "Hold on a second," I stated, "Meta has a point. When I was looking down there, I did not see any mass executions or genocide." "Take another look and tell me what you see," Keniblaze growled, "and then if you still want to go down, then so be it."

Kyogre opened his eyes, shaking, as he suddenly realized he was staring into a pair of yellow eyes. Very familiar yellow eyes. "Hello Kyogre," growled the eye's owners, "tell me, groudon is still okay right?" Kyogre couldn't immediately respond, and as a result, the eye's owners kicked him roughly in the stomach. "My partner had better be alive!" Groudon growled, "you had better had treated him better than you treated yours." Suddenly Kyogre realized who he was speaking with. "Groudon..." he muttered as he stared into the female groudon's fierce gaze.

"He had better be okay!" she growled, "because if not, when I get out of here, you are going to die by my claws!" "Listen, I know this seems bad..." Kyogre stuttered as he realized he was pretty much strung up by some invisible restraints by his flippers, stretched out like a clothes line, "but I am pretty sure he is safe..." "Can you guarantee it?" she hissed, "can you guarantee that he hasn't been tossed away like trash?" "Calm down Groudon," a soothing voice cooed, "Groudon is still under care by Giratina, err, I mean Rita; she will not harm him, and chances are will not allow further harm to his person."

The red and black groudon, the primary coloring being red, seemed to calm down at this reassurance, but threatened, "When I get the chance to tell Arceus what you have done Kyogre..." "Trust me, Arceus already knows," the voice cackled, a ghostly figure appearing, "not only that, but it seems he is aware of Mewtwo as well. I must find out his entire plan, seeing as you have been told only what I already knew." Kyogre cringed, not even realizing that he had spilled what he had known while he was unconscious.

"Now Kyogre, there is one more thing I need for you to do, seeing as you are so willing to sell out your own rare species," the voice snickered, "and you aren't going to like it." A glowing pair of blue eyes suddenly appeared, only to be replaced by the figure of a familiar lugia. "Lugia!" Kyogre screeched in terror, "but, we had a deal!" "The deal's 'fine print' was that you tell my mother what she wanted to know as an informant," the lugia snarled, "she wanted to know what she didn't know, not what she already knew!" Kyogre, confused for a moment about this, was about to ask for an explanation when suddenly it became clear that either way he was near doomed to the a failure beyond his own control.

"Can I watch?" Groudon inquired, "I really want to see this." "Oh, don't worry, I will not bother moving him from where he is," the ghostly figure cackled once more, "would you rather die seeing darkness, or would you want the face of your beloved, betrayed one being the last thing you see?" "Neither!" Kyogre screeched, struggling to break free, "You will not get away with this!" Gislea chuckled as her ghostly form appeared, a mere silhouette of a large, red and white lugia with a sinister, sadistic grin. "If Mewtwo finds Razi first, then I guess I won't," she snarled as she twisted Kyogre's wings wish psychic power, her grin widening as he screamed out in pain, "however, if I find it first, then I will not only get away with this, but make sure that things happen properly!"

Kyogre continued to writhe and scream, much to the dismay of Groudon. "Can't you just finish him already?" Groudon screeched, "I want to see him suffer for what he did, but come on... Right next to my ear?" Gislea shrugged, then waved a wing in his direction as she ceased the twisting, a single tear being shed from the disgraced king of the sea. "Very well then; I want his 'friend' to be the last thing he sees." Lugia nodded, then slinked behind Kyogre as he looked up one last time at Gislea, knowing that his fate was sealed.

"He is sort of large though," Lugia muttered, "this is going to be a challenge..." "Don't worry, take your time, piece by pitiful piece!" spat Gislea, her pleasure at the thought evident, "you will choke if you try to eat him whole. He is a fully grown Kyogre." Personally, Lugia hesitated because she didn't want to take him piece by piece; she knew the outright pain that the other kyogre had went through, and she wasn't eager to cause such turmoil again, especially with her conscious pricking at her mind.

Gislea was not oblivious to this. "Very well then Lugia, return to your room," she said, practically reading her daughter's mind, "and as for you Kyogre... I suppose you will live another few minutes." Lugia shuffled towards her room, taking one last look at Kyogre before slinking out of an open slit of light. The light was shut out the second she left, however, and darkness soon enveloped the rulers of the sea and land. "Now, I will make this as painful as possible!" Gislea shouted, her figure suddenly becoming brighter even in the darkness, "do you realize what happens when the mind becomes severely traumatized?"

"I don't know," Kyogre innocently claimed, "what happens when the mind is traumatized?" "Well, I guess you are going to find out," Gislea snickered, "Groudon, pay close attention; you shall see why I trusted Darkrai so much to pleasure me with torturing those who decided to cross my rule!" Gislea rushed towards Kyogre, and as she vanished from view, Groudon looked around in confusion. She was about to ask where Gislea went when suddenly Kyogre began shouting, and writhing out, flapping in a vain attempt to escape some unseen attacker.

"Kyogre?" Groudon exclaimed in confusion and alarm as he cried out. "Please, stop!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, "please, I did what I could!" "No, you didn't!" Gislea'se voice rang out, "poor Kyogre... She trusted you so much when you lead her astray..." Kyogre screamed, and as Groudon suddenly began connecting the dots, she realized that Kyogre had been placed in a semi-awake state, half asleep and half awake, being tortured by Gislea's nightmare technique, Darkrai's personal specialty. "Arceus, Mewtwo, Latios, someone!" Kyogre screamed as he continued to vainly struggle, deep depressions appearing all over his body in the shape of teeth marks, "HELP ME!"

Groudon shut her eyes as she heard one final ear splitting scream, then silence, only the sound of dripping heard. Groudon, shaking herself, recoiled from the cruel method used to put him down. "Humph, I told you to pay close attention," Gislea growled, forcing Groudon to fearfully open her eyes, "it seems Kyogre was correct; neither you or her counterpart understand the meaning of nightmare." Groudon risked a look towards Kyogre, who, aside from small cuts, wounds, and a look of exhaustion and defeat seemed okay, looked towards Gislea's glowing figure.

"It isn't over," Gislea snickered, "he passed out far too early this time. I'll continue to make it more and more real until eventually... My daughter has the gusto to make my fantasy become reality!" Groudon relaxed her tense body, dangling by her own set of arm restrains, although she had been strung up like a puppet rather than a shirt on a clothesline. A ghastly touch caused her to shiver as Gislea whispered, "When I get back, I'm going to have a little fun with you too; don't worry, sadism is merely a powerful turn on." Groudon shivered once again as the presence seemingly left the room with a ghostly laugh, and upon glancing at Kyogre once again, she then muttered, "No wonder Shade made her his mate..."

Enough had been said. Arctic managed to locate Suicune with relative ease, since apparently she had been looking for him too. At Gateon Port, the two linked up rather quickly, though now Arctic was lost on what to do next. "Hm, that is weird," Arctic muttered, "Molten made it seem like the human would be waiting for us here on the lighthouse." "Doesn't matter," Suicune dully retorted, "either way, Arceus is probably just going to reverse all of this." "Then why is he letting it go on?" Arctic demanded, "if he could just end it all now and put things as they were, why can't he do that now?"

"I don't know, but that is what Ho-Oh told me to cheer me up," Suicune admitted, "is it just me, or are there things we lesser trios haven't been told?" "I already know that what is going on is far beyond the knowledge of the dog or bird trios," a voice said, "in fact, I am entirely aware of what is going on." Both legendries turned to meet a man in a rather long, burgundy colored coat with a set of desert goggles with rectangular "lenses" reflecting the starlight above with stunning accuracy. A smile crossed his tan, mustached face as he placed the goggles upon his forehead, revealing a set of bright brown eyes twinkling with light.

"Who are you?" Suicune inquired, "and how is it you know..." "All will be explained within due time," the man explained, "what needs to be done now is that you need to help me find the key to winning this." "This conflict?" Arctic chuckled, "I wouldn't really call it a war by any means..." "Ah, but it is an ongoing war," the man explained, "this started long before your trio was created, and supposedly ended near the creation of it." "How do you know so much?" Suicune asked suspiciously, "what makes you such a reliable source?"

The man smiled again, then merely muttered, "My name is Razi, and I need to find a very important fossil." "Razi... Why does it sound so... Familiar..." Arctic murmured, "hm, have we heard of you somewhere before?" "By another name, probably," Razi explained, "but that is irrelevant right now. I need to find a special fossil that is buried here in Orre." "Orre is a giant desert!" Suicune explained, "finding it is like finding a needle within a haystack!" "Don't be so sure," Razi corrected, "Orre is mostly a desert; it is not all desert, and a shrine dedicated to said fossil is where we need to start looking." "Why do you need our help?" Suicune demanded to know, "surely you can just fly to wherever you are trying to go?" "If I were to attempt such a thing, then like my colleague, I will end up missing for thirty years, never to be found," Razi explained, "and I need someone who can find pure water to find its approximate location within Orre."

"That explains Suicune, but why me?" Arctic interrupted before Suicune could ask another question, "why am I needed?" "This shrine is designed to destroy Suicune and anyone within its trio," Razi answered, "it is not designed to destroy the bird trio, and since you were the only one Molten insisted was available, I will have to go with the frosty one." "Who can say that we can even trust you?" Suicune spat, approaching the human in a threatening manner, "how do we know you are just trying to lure us into a trap!"

Razi shrugged, then shook his head. "Suicune, you wished that you could find some way to make your trio work; well, I assure you, I am skilled in the wish granting field." Arctic's eyes suddenly widened as she stared down at Razi. "You're partner pokémon was a jirachi wasn't it?" Arctic exclaimed, "the wishmaker!" "Precisely." "But Jirachi has been gone for a long time... That is one pokémon even Arceus cannot bring back to life!" Suicune insisted, "you can't utilize a dead pokémon's power!" "Yes... I can," Razi reassured Suicune, "and if you do not trust me, then that is your business; but time is of the essence, and it is only a matter of time before your... Our, enemies, find me." "What is so special about you?" Arctic scoffed, "what makes you so special?" "I can use Jirachi's power to its fullest," Razi said, "you can say I am the successor of Jirachi. Your enemies have had a long time to uncover the location of the temple, and I fear they may have been more successful than I."

"If you can utilize that power, then why do you need the fossil?" Suicune questioned, at this point a mere pikachu's length away from the man, "what is so important about the fossil?" "Jirachi died without passing on the power," Razi impatiently elaborated, "so obviously it will need to be extracted." "I still do not trust you," Suicune growled, "you wear the outfit of a snagger."

Clearly Razi was somewhat taken aback by the thought that Suicune knew well enough of the snagger's status, but quickly remembered that Suicune had been on the continent before. "Indeed, I wear the outfit because that has been my alibi for ten years," Razi admitted, "I am technically a member." "Then why should we trust you?" Arctic asked once again, now warily looking around for any signs of pokéballs, "you could very well be leading us to a trap." "You don't have to trust me," Razi spat, actually making Suicune take a few steps back to avoid the spittle, "or even believe me for that matter! But quite frankly, I'd say that one way or another, you are going to need me!"

The stare down went on for a few moments, before the snagger snorted, then turned on a single heel. "Alright then, if that is the way it must be..." Suddenly, since he couldn't even finish his sentence, a blur came from nowhere and snatched up the startled human, alarming Arctic and Suicune. "Where..." Suicune began until she saw a dominantly red latios with white mixed in as a secondary color.

Arctic screeched and began flapping his wings to head off into pursuit, but a black sphere of energy suddenly was launched straight into the bird's feathery chest, knocking the breath out of Arctic and causing him to fall to the ground. Suicune managed to dodge one headed for her head and quickly fired an aura beam in the direction of the attack. The beam hit, and a stunned, dominantly blue latias with white mixed in suddenly fell towards the ground. Suicune rushed over to the surprised Arctic as the latios flew off with Razi...

Arceus shivered as a chilly wind blew past as he stepped foot on Citidark Island. Reshiram and Zekrom silently followed, and the three advanced towards the cave entrance. They slowed, and from a telepathic signal quickly rushed the cave as one, only to find that it was empty. Arceus scowled, then saw a single glowing orb. "The Griseous Orb?" Zekrom said in confusion, "why would Giratina leave this behind?" Arceus carefully approached, and upon getting near it, it suddenly glowed brightly, flashing brilliantly. "Zekrom, Reshiram!" Arceus shouted as he whirled around, "get out!" Too stunned to react, the two were instead teleported by Arceus from the cave as the orb suddenly flashed again.

When the flash of light ended, both the orb and Arceus was gone, and as Dialga and Palkia peered into the cave entrance, they noticed a black and red groudon approaching. "Wow, you are looking good Groudon!" Dialga greeted, "although, you are a bit blacker than usual..." "Humph, I think you are referring to my co-ruler," Groudon corrected. Both Dialga and Palkia opened their eyes wide, but as they did, they were suddenly forced to the ground.

"Well, look what the Arceus dragged in," Shade snickered, his black coloring restored as he descended upon the duo, "tell me, you didn't actually think you could sneak up on us as long as you are near Arceus did you?" "Well obviously we did if we actually came here in a sneaky manner," Palkia retorted, "your psychic strength sure has gotten powerful." "Indeed it has," Shade snickered, "although, I've been getting a little more accustomed to the ghostly arts lately." "Compliments of Giratina?" Dialga asked, "or have you been messing around with Mewtwo lately?" "Actually, Giratina being a ghost helped quite a bit," Shade answered, "and to be honest, I haven't had any contact with Mewtwo in a long time." "So where did you send Arceus?" Palkia demanded to know, "tell us now before Zekrom and Reshiram return." "He is in a special place," Shade cackled, "where he cannot intervene in our affairs any longer." "He's dead?" exclaimed Dialga, "impossible!" "Not dead, merely not in this world any longer."

Arceus quickly prepared for landing as he reappeared in a darkened world. A platform rose from seemingly nowhere to meet his feet as he stood and took a look around. Dark, purple coloring dominated the place, although the ghostly 'plants' and odd water radiated both danger and invitation at the same time. The platform seemed to be made of earth, although Arceus knew fully well that it was far more than just dirt and soil. "Hm, it seems I am in the Distortion World," Arceus said aloud, "and assuming that Giratina hasn't changed much, that means I will soon be having some company."

"It's Rita now Arceus," said Rita as suddenly she appeared from above Arceus in Origin Forme with a wary smile, "and yes, welcome back to the Distortion World." "Sure is rather grim," Arceus joked, "I suppose that would fit the place I will banish you to for starting all of this madness!" "I didn't start this at all!" Rita argued, "Dialga and Palkia opened a rift to this world; now why precisely they did so is beyond me, and I really don't care, but it is not my fault that your idiot minions released me." "You didn't bring me here to talk about that now did you?" Arceus concluded, "and since fighting here would only result in a temporary death, you certainly didn't bring me here to fight either. So why am I here?"

"Arceus, you are here because I want you right here when everything goes down," Rita answered, "here, whatever happens in the other world will not affect us." "But Rita, I need to save the world from the threats that threaten to unbalance it!" Arceus argued, "and if you think you can keep me here for that long, then you are wrong." "Actually, you are the wrong one Arceus," Rita snarled, "in case you forgot; I know how to work everything in here from gravity to anti-matter. Do not think I will just let you leave."

"Then I suppose I may have to beat the smart out of you in order for you to get the idea!" Arceus spat as he rushed upwards towards Rita, "and don't even think of using your signature move on me!" Rita roared in response, and dove towards Arceus almost in a nose-dive status. "Alright you stubborn fool, it is time someone knocked you back down a few notches!"

When the two clashed, a powerful shockwave shook the entire dimension, and the two were pushed back from each other in recoil from their own charge. They then went at it again, and again, and again, constantly striking each other in various different ways, Arceus eventually shifting his type using the various plates that he had kept on his person. Unfortunately for Arceus, as long as he was in the Distortion World, the cards were most in Rita's favor, as she was more than capable of creating various different type moves from literally thin air and binding it with her own charge attack, forcing Arceus to switch types constantly, even if it was an advantageous type against Rita.

Each impact resulted in a powerful shockwave that rocked the solid parts of the realm, and slowly, yet surely, an odd gathering of shades began to appear on the outskirts of the battlefield. The two, mostly oblivious to their gathering audience, continued at an increased speed their relatively simple conflict, attempting to outlast the other in an attritional battle. Eventually, the spectors began jeering and cheering their own sides, adding a somewhat crowd-like effect to this battle, their ghostly roars almost as loud as the impact from each attack the two made on each other.

Finally, the attacks began slowing, as it became clear that Arceus was beginning to wear down. Producing the plates cost energy, as well as replacing them and since he was doing it so frequently, his energy was draining, even as he attempted to restore it using his own aura. However, the physical stress was still weakening his overall offensive power, and since Rita was literally in her playing field, she was wearing down at a much slower rate.

Finally, after one final impact, Rita remained near the impact zone as Arceus was sent flying into a solid platform, most of it shattering into pieces, sending the debris all over. Sensing the fight's end, the specters slowly dispersed from their places as Rita slowly floated down to the fallen deity. Panting heavily, she floated above the injured Arceus as he slowly raised his head. "Grr... Don't think that I'm beaten yet!" he grunted as he attempted to rise, only resulting in him falling back down to the platform, "I'm not done yet!" Rita shook her head; there was no beating the guy's will that was clear.

_if it seems that Arceus and Rita's scene was cut, then well... It was. The rest of it started dragging on, and I figured I already had enough stuff in this chapter, so I decided to branch if off into another chapter. For the sake of convenience, I am also going to start out with them next chapter, so getting back to me and the gang might take a while. :/ _

_Nonetheless, read and review! I'm starting to wonder if the story is being read at all..._


	12. Chapter 12 'A Night to Remember'

**Chapter 12**

"Arceus, this fight is over!" Rita declared, "and whether you like it or not, you still cannot beat me!" "I fought you on your turf though!" Arceus spat, "what did you expect?" "Excuses!" Rita snapped, "you are supposed to be the ruler of all that was ever created in BOTH worlds! That was **your **commission remember? Instead, you allowed yourself to get a swell head because I started to obey your orders like an obedient dog for a time, then you threw a tantrum when I decided to change things! Arceus, unless you want even the Origin to scorn you, then I suggest you change you act!"

Defiantly, Arceus stared up towards Rita's fierce look, hissing, "You don't even know what I have had to go through just to accept being the giver of life! All you have ever had to do was manage what life there already was! All you EVER had to do was fight! Well guess what?" Rita actually waited for the still out of breath Arceus to regain his wind before resuming her somewhat icy look towards him. "Guess what? I had to face the guilt, the judgment, the shame, the humiliation, and the loss of a thousand years because you decided to 'shake things up'! Don't you realize that banishing you to the Distortion World meant that somehow I needed to make up for you?" Arceus brashly spat, "I had to divide my strength, my very life force several more times just to make the legendary trios that pester the world today just to keep order! And the thanks I get for that? You decide to bring back your egotistical stepson to the world and provoke his mate into making her move!"

Rita was silent as Arceus finally managed to stand, now aglow with a white light. "You may scream and shout about the unfair life you were forced to live, but don't you dare think that I didn't suffer too!" Rita couldn't look Arceus in the eyes as she couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty for not considering the side of the coin. She had considered the flip side, but she had missed the side of the coin, the side that delivered the actually width to the coin.

Arceus banished her to the Distortion World after she helped Shade and Gislea conquer the world and keep a hold on it, but because he did so, he was left short on those capable of warping all over the world in the blink of an eye to deliver his divine punishments precisely as he wanted it. As a result, he needed to create various more trios to help administer things, giving ultimate responsibility over them to the already created legendries, such as Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Regigas. The other trio masters would be created to supplement the shortcomings of the arrangement.

Dialga and Palkia could not get the job done because the two of them together actually made things worse, and only controlled time and space respectively; they couldn't whip up a storm without Groudon or Kyogre, who had their own realms to govern and couldn't afford to travel the world. Besides, they had been put to sleep by then to hopefully give the world time to heal from their final duel, meaning that they were out of commission anyway. Reshiram and Zekrom were not longer physical beings, and they did not have a third at the time.

All in all... Rita sighed as she looked towards the brightly glowing Arceus, who had been standing there, glaring at her in rage. "I..." Rita started, but then bit back her words. It wasn't that she had been in the wrong as far as she was concerned, but she hadn't exactly been perfectly right in her doings. Arceus stopped glowing as he realized that, at least for a moment, his point had been made. "I had not looked at things that way," Rita muttered in a low tone, "I... I had mostly been thinking about what I saw..." "Well, I can't exactly say that I have been all divine and right," Arceus admitted, rather painfully based on his tone, "I did not consider your self appointed duty to Shade and Gislea, and how you would have felt to see them... Well, you know."

Rita nodded thoughtfully, then chuckled. Arceus tilted his head curiously as he asked, "What is so funny?" "Well, it's just that I dragged you here to the Distortion World to talk some sense into you, when I guess I needed some sense talked into me as well," Rita joked, "I guess the pikachu calling the rattata a rodent is rather hypocritical." At this, both laughed, and as their laughter echoed throughout the rather gloomy world, the two looked at each other. A long pause ensured as the two continued to stare at each other.

Arceus decided to speak first. "What happened?" he asked, "what happened?" "Our mission," Rita murmured, "much like the creatures we were supposed to nourish, was flawed from the beginning I guess." "No..." Arceus growled, "that mission was given to us before we could even say mission. That goal could not have been skewered." "Then maybe we were the ones who wavered somewhere," Rita replied, "maybe we are the ones who somehow got off the beaten path. Where did we go wrong?" In an irritated kind of way, Arceus stared at Rita for a few brief moments before saying, "That is what I just asked, just in a more simple way."

Rita chuckled, then teased, "Well, you do have a way of oversimplifying things." "You make things complicated," Arceus retorted, "did you really have to practically start a war in Orre just to get us to this point?" "Well, an entire dimension completely separating us for so long didn't help," Rita joked, "besides, this kind of brings the timing just right." "What do you mean?" Arceus inquired, "how does this provide the perfect timing?" Rita smiled a most sinister smile, then answered, "Because unless you find a way to open the portal, then we are both stuck here for a loooong time..." Arceus' eyes widened, then, in a furious rage he shouts, "You son of a..." You mad?" Rita taunted as she rapidly flew away from Arceus, who by this point had managed to regain quite the energy as he chased after her in blind fury, "then come and get me!"

The ruckus going on down below had been going on for hours now, and that was because, for a human, Razi was particularly hard to contain. He had been hurling aura spheres left and right, biting like a madman, and constantly resisting attempts at hypnosis. Mewtwo was beginning to get frustrated, as it was particularly hard to keep Suicune and Arctic off of their trail with all of the evidence left behind in the forest they were trekking through, since they had not been able to transport Razi far from Gateon Port with his constant struggling.

Razi was not going down easy, and since Latias had gotten herself shot down, Latios was left to deal with this guy. Razi clearly hadn't lived this long for nothing, and as yet another vicious bite on Latios' arm brought him to release the human once again, he scowled. By this point, even he, who typically preferred not ripping any living thing to shreds, was very close to that point. "Get back here Razi!" shouted Latios as he set off in pursuit, a single fist balled in and ready for a crushing blow, "quit trying to escape or die!"

Only a fool would have listened on a normal occasion, but much to Latios' shock, Razi actually stopped and faced Latios. "Fine then," Razi sighed, "you win eon pokémon." "Well then," Latios commented, releasing his right fist and relaxing, "get ready to be teleported." Razi smiled, then snickered, "I hate to break it to you, but you are too smart for your own good." "What do you..." Latios started until he heard the the clicking of a gun.

As Mewtwo arrived on the scene from concealing a rather large burn spot where Latios had almost killed their prisoner down a well worn dirt path, he couldn't help but marvel at what he saw. What he saw was a human facedown, bleeding apparently from a bullet wound to the chest, and Latios, on his side, rather than still pursuing Razi, who didn't seem to even be in sight. "Latios!" Mewtwo exclaimed as he rushed towards him, "Latios, please tell me you have not been shot!" "No," Latios murmured, "I haven't been shot, but I do know why Razi is still alive after all of these years." "Well?" Mewtwo inquired with a hint of concern, "why is he still alive?" Latios blinked wearily and looked towards Mewtwo with sleepy eyes. "He is literally the successor of Jirachi the Wish maker." Latios then went limp, eyes closed, as it seemed he could no longer maintain his conscious state.

Baffled, Mewtwo merely decided that he needed to regroup his small group; but first, he needed to find out what happened to Latios. A quick analysis of his body showed no signs of brute forced used to knock him out, nor severe injuries. Only further confused by these findings, Mewtwo decided to take things on a mental scale, using telepathy to analyze Latios' mind.

He soon uncovered that Latios had been the victim of a combination of hypnosis and dream eater, putting him in an unconscious state that was almost like a coma. "Fuck," Mewtwo snarled, "I don't know how this happened, but I think I had better take another look at the scrolls." Using levitate, he "carried" Latios down the path back towards Gateon Port, only to suddenly stop as he saw what looked like a giant levitating pokéball through the trees. As he slowly approached, Latios closely held behind, he smiled as he realized that the floating pokéball didn't mean that there were giant pokeballs in production. It meant that he had uncovered the pokémon research lab of Orre, and by the looks of things, it didn't look well defended...

The second Emperion wandered down to the camp and introduced himself, the entire atmosphere changed. Combined with Agron, the two made quite the party starters, and before long, an odd celebration was going on below, and as I personally viewed from my dune top, Emperion was certainly going to get his fill. I hungrily eyed Cambrai, who was completely gorging out on berries with little concern for her starving trainer. "Keniblaze," I whispered, "you wouldn't mind getting me some food would you?"

When I received no response, I turned around, only to realize that Keniblaze was nowhere to be found. "Oh come on..." I groaned, turning back around in anger until I was confronted with a blaziken's fierce look. I scrambled backwards away from the blaziken, only registering moments after grabbing a pokéball that I was facing Keniblaze. And as he dropped a large bag onto the sand floor, he joked, "What's the matter, scaredy cat afraid of chickens?"

Recovering from my shock, I scowled, "Keniblaze, you know I scare easy in the dark!" "I have no idea how you survived out here," he joked as he pulled out a handful of berries from the bag, stuffing his beak halfway through his joke. "You do realize that I usually was armed with a lethal lairon and a pistol!" I spat as I dug in, "besides, how did you make off with so many berries?" "Well, to say the least, I have no idea where they got such a stash," Keniblaze answered as he munched on more berries, "I didn't think they had so much food in the desert." "Apparently they did not get this from the desert part of Orre," I commented, taking a bite out of a particularly large berry I did not recognize. Much to Keniblaze's humor, berry juice practically squirt everywhere with my first bite, nearly nailing even me in both my eyes.

"So, uh, did you..." I asked somewhat awkwardly while wiping berry juice from my chin, "did you participate in any of the activities?" "No," Keniblaze stated as he eyed a grepa berry, "to be honest, I would have rathered do my duty and come defend you." "Suck up," Meta murmured from its resting place to our left, most of it not visible as apparently it had buried itself in the sand. Keniblaze stuck out his tongue at Meta, then resumed his eating as I asked, "So, is the rest of the party getting their groove on?" "Well, you know Katty, she'd rather exchange gossip than get down if you know what I mean," Keniblaze informed between chewing, "Cambrai is starting sparring rounds, Agron is organizing a game of hide-and-go-seek, and Emperion had already gotten laid three times before I left." "They're just doing it in the light of the fires?" I exclaimed with apparent disgust, "has he no shame?"

"Well, I don't think he has much shame in his game," Keniblaze joked, "but his targets do, and would prefer to do it in the darkness of the dunes. Strange thing is, most females aren't so willing to whore themselves out for nothing, especially if they are wild." "Either way, we have company," Meta said in alarm, "I am picking up Emperion and two companions; they're headed straight for us!" As a metallic psychic type, I suppose it would have made sense for him to be capable of using sonar, but even sonar alone wouldn't identify something specific unless it was pinged often. Then again, Emperion was a member of the party, so I guess it would make sense to say that he was pinged more often than I imagined.

Keniblaze and myself quickly scrambled to conceal ourselves, copying Meta's camouflage technique and submerging ourselves in sand. Naturally we kept a low profile, as only our faces were exposed, and even then, we weren't exactly in an obvious location. The bag of berries had been left behind, and as Emperion crested the dune, he put a smile onto his face.

"This is perfect!" Emperion exclaimed, "looks like we have a snack to rejuvenate ourselves before we get down and boogy!" Two luxray, presumably female if I knew Emperion, followed closely behind, absorbing everything about their surroundings. They briefly looked in our direction, held the gaze for a bit, squinted, and then trotted to catch up to Emperion. Agron appeared over the hill next in a hurry, apparently to warn Emperion that we had been here, but as he realized that we were nowhere in sight, he sighed in relief. "What's with you Agron?" one of the luxrays asked, "something the matter?" "No," Agron responded as he walked down the dune towards the group.

"So, you are perfectly fine with us joining you two?" Emperion asked as he caressed a luxray, who by this point had begun licking his cheek, "because I know how you are and all." "To be honest, I do, but since Luxia doesn't want to get separated from her friend, I really don't have an option," Agron admitted as he sat down next to his luxray, "I do happen to have higher standards than you." Emperion chuckled, and it soon became clear that he really could have cared less about Agron's discomfort as long as he got what he wanted.

"Are the two of you enjoying this?" Meta telepathically asked, "if so, it is just beginning." "Hm, I always wondered which one of them was bigger..." Keniblaze joked in the telepathic link, "we can't be heard right?" "No, not as long as you don't shout anything loud enough for other psychics to be alerted to," Meta reassured us, "any-who, Emperion sure doesn't enjoy foreplay now does he?" "No, he doesn't," Keniblaze joked, "that seems to be more of Agron's style."

I couldn't believe I was watching it first of all with such interest. Secondly I couldn't believe even further, pardon my language, that I was totally getting a boner from this. And even as Emperion enjoyed his job, Agron teased his partner till she sent out sparks. "Wish I could bate to this," Meta sadly stated, "but unfortunately, since I'm genderless, I don't have such parts." "The motion would reveal our presence anyway," Keniblaze dully chimed in, "though, you're right, this does kind of blow." I couldn't help but chuckle at the pun, though I tried my best not to burst out laughing, my body shaking from the exertion.

The luxray were totally tuned out by this point anyway, as Emperion moaned, rolling both his eyes and his head back as he cried out, "Oh yeah Luxy, seems your time watching your former trainer and her friend really paid off!" Irritatingly, presumably because of Emperion's outburst, Agron continued his tease work on Luxia, who was begging for Agron to take her already. I wanted to shout for him to start pounding, but I refrained from such a mad action as Keniblaze chuckled, "Heh, I always knew Agron was bigger."

"Nice to see what you're staring at," Meta cackled, its usual shyness subdued over telepathy, "maybe you should go join in the fun. I'm sure at least one of them likes it double." "Please, I have to make sure no sandshrew takes a bite out of Jack," Keniblaze joked, "and besides, Emperion couldn't take me outsizing him anyway." "How big are you anyway?" "Err, that is kind of private don't you think? And look who's asking eh..." "Hey, I have no affiliations either side of the gender stick, so you can't turn my joke around on me." "I always thought of you as the third girl in our group, so I guess if the shoe fits..." "Quiet, I wanna count how much longer Emperion can last out..."

Meta didn't have to wait long at all as Emperion cried out, and Luxy's head was pushed deep into Emperion's crotch. Her eyes closed tight as she attempted to pull out, but Emperion had a firm grip as he bucked in climax. Agron by this point was getting ready to mount his very turned on prize when suddenly he stared directly at me. I swear, it was eye to eye contact, and he would have kept contact too had Luxia not demanded, "Hurry it up Agron, before I decide to order what Luxy is getting!" It was clear he knew I was here now, but he nonetheless resumed giving her what she wanted, which she responded to quite well.

Now, although I would rather describe in vivid detail everything else, since it was pretty much burned into my memory (Just so you know, I am not complaining), I have my restrictions and promises to keep, so I'll just go ahead and point out that after Agron officially started his run, it became an undeclared competition between Agron and Emperion to make their mates climax harder than the other. I will also tell you the victor; Agron. I could argue it was sheer size alone, but others would suggest that, in fact, it was because of his foreplay that he managed to be the undisputed winner. Either way, he won, and once all four of them were sound asleep, first Keniblaze, then Meta, then myself sneaked away from the area, Keniblaze stealthily taking the bag of berries with us.

We made camp on another dune about a mile away, far from the noise of now dying down party mood. I had been dumping sand from my various articles of clothing, one by one, as Keniblaze checked our food bag for any signs of sand (or anything else) getting into it. After disposing of almost an armful of berries (I was never told what precisely was wrong with them) Keniblaze chuckled. As I began buttoning my pants, I asked, still telepathically, "What is so funny?" "Well, not that I was overly concerned or anything," Keniblaze said in telepathy, stifling a laugh, "but I think you were totally turned on by that."

At such an accusation, I was about ready to deny, but there was a pretty good chance Keniblaze had snuck a glance at me while I was shaking out my underwear, which, for being worn underneath my clothing, had an unusually large amount of sand in it, and it didn't take much for someone to recognize the sign of arousement. Of course to be fair, I had taken a glance over at him as well, though it was sort of a stare for a little bit, since I had never seen any of my pokémon with their switches on before, and couldn't help but once again feel sort of... Small in comparison (Yeah, believe it or not, in the middle of a freezing desert, I was honestly concerned with that after seeing Emperion and Agron). I suppose there was a first time for everything I guess.

"Maybe so," I countered, "you can't exactly say you're innocent of such a crime." "You do know that in Sinnoh it IS a crime to watch pokémon porn?" Keniblaze joked, bursting out in laughter, "good thing you're in Orre, where that kind of thing is sold in the Pyrite pokémart." As Keniblaze enjoyed his good laughter, I rolled my eyes in annoyance, then shivered as the wind blew right through my shirt. I reached for my black jacket, its pokéball design on the back the typical wear of foreigners from Orre, when Meta coughed.

"You know the two of you can start speaking again right?" Meta reminded us with its voice, "I mean, you don't still need to use the telepathic channel." "I dunno, it was sort of fun to not have to say what you want to say," Keniblaze joked, "but I suppose you are getting kind of tired from the exertion huh?" "Well what do you know, we have a doctor in the desert!" Meta stated, the statement dripping with an unusual amount of sarcasm, "tell me Doc, what's wrong with Jack?" "Well, as a human, the max he could possibly wish to naturally attain is about five inches," Keniblaze joked out loud, causing a fierce glare from me, "while we pokemon vary in sizes as much as we vary in sizes!" The two laughed, although I don't see why Meta was enjoying the joke so much, despite the death look I was giving the two of them.

I decided that apparently seeing Keniblaze loosen up a bit had encouraged Meta as well, and the last thing I wanted was for the two of them to gangbang me with their jokes. I was too tired for that. "Meta, return," I wearily ordered, his pokeball in hand as a red light enveloped him. Moments later he was sucked into the pokeball, and I was left standing with a still horny Keniblaze. "What did you do that for?" he growled, "I think Meta was finally opening up!" "Yeah, well, it's easier to be laughed at for my looks rather than," I replied with a hint of shame, "well, you know." "We were just poking fun at you," Keniblaze reassured me before giving himself a brief shake, "can't you handle a joke?" His beak clattered together once, and I couldn't help but feel confounded he could feel cold when I was rather comfortable now that my jacket was back on.

"Keniblaze, something..." I started until it hit me, then I began chuckling. "What?" Keniblaze growled fiercely as he shivered once more, "what is so funny?" "I guess you can't take the cold," I joked, chuckling as I did so, "I guess you better tune down before you get frostis!" I burst out laughing, but I quickly ceased as Keniblaze looked at me in a rather irritated way. Tch, they can make jokes about you all day, but the second you tell a joke about them... "Jack, seriously, this is kind of serious," Keniblaze stammered, "I don't want to use a move cause it might be like a flare in the dark, but I don't understand why I am so cold all of a sudden." I let out a rather fake cough, then gestured towards him. "Well, you do kind of have an exposed... Err, part of you," I warily explained, "maybe its drawing quite the heat from you."

Keniblaze cocked his bird head to the side. "I don't think that has anything to do with it." "Well then, do I need to return you to your environment controlled pokéball?" I offered as I fumbled for it in my belt, "just say the word." "Please, you may be warm now, but just wait till midnight," Keniblaze stammered, "when things get the coldest around here." He had a point, but to be completely honest, the last thing I wanted to do was sleep with Keniblaze while he was in the mood. Not only would it be rather uncomfortable, I didn't exactly want the rest of the party finding the two of us like that, huddled together in such a way.

A rather awkward silence ensured, as neither of us really wanted to say anything else on the matter. "Alright fine Keniblaze," I said, clicking his pokéball back into place, "go jerk off, then come straight back." "I don't think so," Keniblaze growled as he approached at a rather dangerously fast pace, "the last thing I'd want to do is turn my back for a second too long." Whoever assumed he had to... No, yeah, he would have needed to turn his back. That would have been rather disturbing for me to watch, and even more disturbing that I would even think about watching that.

By this point we were only a few feet away, and I couldn't help but back away just a bit. One thing Agron had taught me about pokémon was that you never underestimated what they were capable, or willing for that matter, of doing, and by the look on his face, Keniblaze had something on his mind. As he saw the wary look on my own face, Keniblaze broke out into a grin, then began laughing. "Ha, what are you so worked up about?" he joked, although I could detect a bit of wavering in his tone, "worried I might do something to you?"

_Yes_. "No!" I reassured him, although I did not take even a baby step forward, "I was just..." "It's alright," Keniblaze admitted, "to be honest, it did cross my mind a few times." Sure, it just "crossed" his mind a few times. I could read facial expressions well enough among my party members, and I knew I had read his accurately. Another chilling wind passed by, this time in a howling manner that nearly blew me face first into the sand. Keniblaze promptly caught me, helped me back onto stable footing, and stared me down, keeping a rather tight grip on my shoulders. "Jack... You have an option," he said in a restrained tone, "we find somewhere better to sleep or we sleep together. Your choice." My mind was screaming find somewhere better, but my conscious insisted that leaving the party at the Libra would be quite wrong.

I decided to go with my conscious. "Alright then Keniblaze, just give me your word that you won't go crazy with my sleeping body," I joked, "and of course, you are gonna have to let me go." He released me, leaving claw holes in my jacket where his talons had been. "Sure thing Jack," Keniblaze promised, "I won't do anything to you while you sleep."

"A little unorthodox don't you think?" Molten inquired to a particular blastoise as it swam around in circles in the Phenac Colosseum, "what were you all thinking?" "Dunno," the blastoise replied, "personally, I just went with the flow. Last thing I wanted was a shock from Zap." "Understandable I guess," Molten sighed, "I just wished they wouldn't make so much noise." "Well, I hate to break it to you, but they aren't used to this kind of stress," blastoise said as he dove down into the water, then burst out, landing neatly onto the battle platform, "most of them are wild pokémon." "Yes, but I figured they'd be used to fighting territory wars," Molten stated, "what is causing these this unusual behavior?"

The blastoise shrugged, then suggested, "Well, most wild pokemon are taught to flee from humans cause they have a great disadvantage. That isn't the case right now." "So they are taking advantage of it and them?" Molten finished, "man, I didn't think it would go like this..." "Well, it's not that," Blastoise tried to explain, "you see, you are a legendary, so you wouldn't understand, but the very thought of asserting our dominance over humans has been unfathomable because so many of them are trainers." "They have armed soldiers too with weapons that could kill even a lugia," Molten pointed out, "I would think trainers are the least of your worries." "Not quite the case," Blastoise corrected, "their military is rarely mobilized due to the trainer system, which has been around ever since the first League was set up; as a result, their military is not only small, but highly untrained, its focal point mostly in Orre, one of the few non-ranger protected regions that does not have a League."

"So, Zap just took that to the extreme?" Molten said, "that makes sense." "No, he merely took advantage of their fervor," Blastoise corrected once again, " and I guess he was a little hyped himself." "So what do I do?" Molten groaned, head within his wings, "I don't want the trainers get mauled or worse, but quite frankly it is only a matter of time before Zap gets the better of me." "According to what I hear, Giratina is going to go back to the Distortion World with Arceus," Blastoise whispered, "essentially, Shade is going to come back and finish things while Giratina makes sure there is no interference from Arceus." "But there is Reshiram and Zekrom!" Molten argued, "not to mention both Groudons and Kyogres..."

"You must not have heard," Blastoise said in a low tone, "legendries have been going missing on a rapid note ever since Rayquaza destroyed Sky Tower." "What?" Molten exclaimed, "are they being captured?" "Possibly," Blastoise suggested, "but if you think about it, Arceus would have replaced them if they had been captured by humans, and as far as I know, he hasn't done so." With a worried expression, Molten took a look towards the open roof, blinking at the stars above. "If this is true, but humans aren't the ones doing it... Then who is?"

Groudon awoke suddenly as the light of a fire illuminated him. "Awake?" someone asked, though Groudon wasn't sure who it was until he sat up. It was Azelf. "Good then, he is awake," Azelf said, "Uxie, he's awake!" Groudon suddenly felt rather uncomfortable as the other two psychics made their entry. "Where am I?" he asked, "more importantly, is there some chance I can see..." "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Groudon has been captured," Uxie interrupted, "and quite frankly, you're the only hope we have of finding her."

At this, Groudon sat up in alarm, fully awake by this point. "How can I be of assistance?" "Well, you know how every legendary to date has had a mate of their own species except lugia ever since the Shade incident right?" Uxie explained, "well, as I'm sure you are catching on, there aren't that many who are alive anymore, partly because some of them had been captured while others merely died out. Well, seeing as the pair of you seem to be one of the few left, the two of you are capable of tracking each other."

"How?" Groudon inquired, "I certainly can't smell her, and I don't think taste is going to help either." "Well, that is why we're here," Mespirit said, "essentially, we are going to project a number of images into your head, and when one of them 'feels right', just pick it out." "Mespirit can sense your emotions anyway so don't worry about choosing the wrong one," Uxie reassured Groudon, "now, let us begin. First of all, let's start where we know she isn't so that you can get a bearing for how this will go down..."

Kyogre, much to his surprise and dismay, woke up in a dark chamber. However, this time, he was in about two meters of water, unrestrained. With a splash, Kyogre woke himself up even further, as he wanted to get his bearings before he attempted any serious movement. However, as he quickly realized, there was something else in the water too. Curiously, warily, Kyogre swam towards the figure until he found a groudon face up in the water, head barely sticking out of the water.

"Groudon!" Kyogre exclaimed as he rushed over to her, "please tell me you are alright!" "What do you care," she murmured, "you traitor." Kyogre huffed at the accusation, then turned his back on Groudon. "Listen, this isn't supposed to stay the current reality," Kyogre said in a low growl, "things were supposed to be completely reversed, so that none of this actually happened, but happened." "That doesn't make sense," Groudon murmured, "but either way, can I ask of you a favor?" "What?" "Can you let me bite your fin?" "Why would I let you do that?" "I need to get the taste of... Well, I just need to get this taste out of my mouth."

" You are almost completely submerged in water," Kyogre retorted, "rinse your mouth out!" "It isn't that simple," Groudon grumbled, still sounding half asleep, "it is a different kind of taste." Kyogre contemplated for a few moments, then silently asked, "If I do this, you have to do me a favor in return." Groudon silently considered the proposal, then asked, "What do I have to do in return?"

This was it. Kyogre could ask for practically anything; control, prestige, the humiliation of the groudon species, maybe even a subjective alliance... But he needed to choose wisely. If he chose the wrong one, she would refuse, and then he would be stuck cowering for his life again, all by himself. "Groudon," Kyogre asked, "do you know whether it is day or night?" Groudon, coming to ever so slowly, mumbled, "No, I don't actually know." She smacked her lips, then cringed in disgust. She then stood up, now her entire head out of the water as she spat in disgust.

"Gah, I hate freshwater," she growled, "you wanna know what else I hate? This taste!" "What is the taste?" Kyogre inquired, "it can't be that bad." She glared at Kyogre, causing him to cringe. "Do you want to taste it?" she growled as she rushed Kyogre, "if so, I can always give you a taste!" Expecting such a brash attack, Kyogre instantly swam backwards, then was deigned to swim circles around Groudon until she grabbed his back fin. "Ah the hell!"he cried when she literally brought her jaws to his own, and even as their tongues met, Kyogre closed his eyes in absolute disgust.

"OH MY GOD!" Kyogre exclaimed as he broke free from Groudon, spitting into the water and attempting to wash the foul taste out, "what in the hell have you been eating?" "You don't want to know," Groudon commented as she also tried to wash the taste out, "worse than grimy water." "Tastes like bodily fluid from a damn bird!" Kyogre described as the taste eventually began fading, "Bleh, whatever that was, it was foul!" Groudon smiled as she smacked her lips again. "Hm, I never knew the inside of your mouth would also taste like fish," she snickered, "hm, just what I needed to get rid of this taste!" "Do that again and I will make you so cold that even your heart will shiver!" Kyogre threatened, distancing himself from Groudon.

Groudon laughed, then blinked as she stared at Kyogre. "What?" Kyogre asked, somewhat unused to be stared at by a groudon, "is it something I said?" "I think I know how we can get out of here!" Groudon snickered, "but I will need you to play along okay?" Suspicion written all over his face, Kyogre asked, "What did you have in mind? And don't think I will forget that you owe me..."

In a glass chamber, Lugia rested comfortably, the noise from earlier dying down. She could only imagine what her mother did with her father when the two of them had been together, but what she did know was that according to Gislea, her father was that black lugia she had encountered earlier. While not exactly unbelievable, it was hard to swallow that her father and mother were both not only dead, but dead for the same reason. As she contemplated, she almost instantly sensed her mother returning, now becoming accustomed to her presence.

"Well, look who is dozing," Gislea commented as her spirit floated into the room, now far less transparent in the reflecting lighting, "you would not believe how good that felt." "I know you have been stressed with all of your manipulating lately, but the racket down there really disturbed me," Lugia noted while eyeing Gislea, "although I must say, it didn't sound like torture." Gislea chuckled, then whispered, "When you're older and a bit more knowledgeable, I'll explain what went on down there."

Lugia rolled her eyes in irritation, but was quickly startled when a sudden moaning came from down below. "What in the world?" Lugia exclaimed as the sounds grew louder, "what is that?" "Dunno," a yawning Gislea said, "go down and investigate. I need to recharge." As Gislea vanished, Lugia carefully shuffled towards an opening in the glass room, a darkened hallway leading her further down.

After a small while, she reached the bottom of the hallway, and prior to opening the gate to the prison chambers, she took a listen to the cries from inside. "Harder Kyogre harder!" what sounded like Groudon shouting reached Lugia's ears, "dammit, I never knew a fish could be so big!" "I've got some whale in me!" Kyogre grunted a little too loudly, "under your tail, right up the net, you know it's true." "What the fuck?" Lugia muttered as she continued to listen to this odd exchange.

A loud bang could be heard against the wall Lugia was listening to, causing her to leap back, a constant thumping sound emitting from the other side. "Yes, yes, yes!" Groudon shouted practically at the wall, "don't you dare come yet!" "It'd be easier if you weren't so damn tight!" Kyogre exclaimed, "Groudon must not have done shit to you!"

No longer capable of withholding her curiosity (and secret desire to see a groudon and kyogre screw each other) Lugia muttered the pass code, then walked through the gate. The second she did, however, she saw darkness, as a swift knockout blow to the back of the head brought her splashing into the water face down. Water flowed into the opening, taking Groudon and Kyogre with it, and as the two quickly closed the gate again, they looked towards each other.

"You will not tell anyone about that," Groudon warned, "not even after all of this is over, got it?" "Got it," Kyogre said, "and you won't tell anyone I actually got turned on from that verbal roleplay..." Groudon gave Kyogre a "really?" look, shook her head, then motioned upwards. "Let's get the hell out of here!" Groudon said as the two fled upwards, leaving Lugia inside the prison.

_Well, you would be surprised, but I sort of enjoyed typing up those VERY sexual cutouts in the story. I officially changed the tittle to 'Empire Under the Sun' partly due because 'Great War' no longer seemed to apply, as a war has plenty of fighting, and there has only been bits of it. Then again, if I didn't split scenes so much, it would be so much easier to progress the story along._

_(but come on, admit it, you are enjoying the non-Jack cutouts better than the Jack cut-outs, even if they have the most sexual humor so far.)_


	13. Chapter 13 'Reach of Darkness'

Chapter 13

I was startled awake by a screech. From darkness, to watching the sand lit by the rising sun, the first thing I noticed was that I had been moved to a shady spot behind a rather large dune, apparently shielding my person from the sun. Secondly, and probably most importantly, Keniblaze was no longer next to me. I sat up slowly, as I did not want to make too many sudden movements, and took a sniff in the air. I could smell smoke, although thanks to its diluted nature, clearly it was blown towards my position from some ways off. Shaking the sand off of my person as I rose, I began taking a quick look around, realizing that the dune that had been shading me from the sunrise was also the dune blocking my view of the smoke's origin.

"Jack!" I heard someone shout, and from a look to my left, it was coming from an aggron awkwardly running towards me. "Jack, did you hear that?" Agron asked as he reached me, panting, almost doubled over, "I heard it and rushed over." "Where is your mate?" I inquired, genuinely curious, "I thought it wasn't your style to ditch." "Both of those luxray left Jack," Agron said in a critical tone, "and for the record, you had better promise not to reveal any of the... more graphic things that I know you saw last night." "Sure thing," I promised, "but seriously, who am I going to tell?"

Well, good thing he made me promise anyway huh? Nevertheless, Emperion, Katty, and Cambrai quickly arrived on the scene, and after releasing Meta, the six of us cautiously ventured over the large dune that was not there when I fell asleep. What we saw, however, was actually not rather shocking, at least not at first.

A convoy of trucks, each mounted with machine guns, seemed to had been escorting a single, Snagem marked truck that apparently had been transporting something of value. Nonetheless, the various shells all over the place suggested a gun fight, although how the hell I didn't wake up from it was beyond me. As Meta pointed out, there were only two presences down there still alive, so it was clear that whoever, or whatever for that matter, attacked, had done a thorough job.

"Should we investigate?" I asked, wary to get involved, "whatever attacked did so with deadly efficiency." "We should," Agron whispered, "where is Keniblaze?" It was a question that had touched my mind a little earlier, but I had dismissed it, thinking that he had branched back off. The bag of berries had been missing also, so I assumed he finally decided to go get some sometime in the night. "Don't worry, he's down there," Meta told us, "I can hear his voice. He's shouting." "Then why can't we hear him?" Agron asked, "especially if he is shouting?" "Because you aren't listening as hard as I am!" Meta retorted, "listen carefully."

We listened carefully, and slowly, but surely, the sound of Keniblaze's angry, unusually aggressive tone came through. I couldn't make out what he was saying, so I suggested that we move down to assist him if he needed. We quickly made out trek downwards through the former combat zone, and as we passed burnt, mutilated, and shredded corpses, I couldn't help but begin getting worried. "I don't understand; why wouldn't Keniblaze just alert us to an attack like this?" I wondered aloud, "I was literally right in front of him."

It soon became clear, however, as we approached the large truck where Keniblaze was located, that there had been no need. Although he was on the other side, by now we could clearly hear the conversation that was going on, and by the sounds of it, someone was in trouble. "Please, I swear, I don't know anything!" what sounded like a woman pleaded, "I don't know anything about it!" "Stop lying!" Keniblaze shouted, "I know you know about it! You used to work for Magma, and now you work for Snagem; I KNOW you know about the joint project between the two!" Somehow, he apparently had not noticed that we were approaching the truck, which was unusual, since he usually sensed new arrivals long before they get a flamethrower's distance from him.

"AH!" she screamed, the clear sound of crying in her voice, "please, stop!" "Not, until, you tell me, what I demand!" Keniblaze grunted, "now talk!" Meta had stopped walking by now, apparently because he didn't want his large size to alert Keniblaze to our presence, although I figured that if he had not seen us coming by now he wouldn't anytime soon. Another ear splicing scream that made all of us cringe and cover our ears in some shape or fashion sounded, and then a much more pitiful sobbing. "What you are looking for," the woman cried, "is with Admin Newsoia!" "Which Newsoia!" Keniblaze growled, "which one?" "Kenny Newsoia!" screeched the woman, "the shadow snagger is with Admin Kenny Newsoia!" "Thank you!" Keniblaze growled, "that took quite the work!" "Now please, let me go..." she pleaded, "I told you what I wanted."

We rounded the corner, just in time to see Keniblaze dismount a Snagem member. "Alright, I'll let you go..." he snickered, took a step back, then took in a deep breath. When he exhaled it, he released a burst of orange-red flames that quickly licked up the poor driver, who screamed for only a few seconds before abruptly stopping. The burning corpse was then kicked to the side, and as Keniblaze whirled around, his eyes went wide as he stared at a shocked party.

In case you didn't figure it out, this was the part we were shocked about. "What the hell was that all about?" Emperion inquired, "I mean, I know you had some issues with Team Snagem, but jeez..." I had not been made aware that Keniblaze had issues with my former organization, so I was probably the most shocked of us all. "What is this Shadow Snagger?" Agron demanded to know, "and more importantly, why was it worth killing that woman?" "It is not what you think..." Keniblaze started until Cambrai cut him off. "No, it is exactly what we think!" she shouted at him, "you crazy, sick bastard!"

I decided to intervene at this point, stepping between my really ticked off group and Keniblaze. "Now hold on a second!" I shouted, "let's calm down here and get our facts straight before we start jumping to conclusions..." "I think it is clear," Emperion muttered, "who's side Jack is on." "I am on no one's side!" I scolded, "and shame on you all for jumping to conclusions!" None of them seemed very chastised, but Katty finally said, "Jack... You just saw what we saw, and you are still insisting that we shouldn't be concerned?"

I made my reply as I whirled towards Keniblaze, who by now showed no evidence of carnally assaulting anything. "Keniblaze... Explain yourself," I calmly demanded, "you at least owe them... Myself, that." Keniblaze blinked, stayed silent for a moment, then stared at me. "You knew all along that Team Snagem was planning on making a comeback, didn't you?" he asked, "answer me that first." "I don't really think you are in the position..." Agron started till I silenced him with a single hand gesture. "I always knew that Team Snagem was going to 'perfect' the Cipher Shadow Pokémon Plan as a part of their comeback, but if you are insisting that I knew more than that, then you are mistaken," I answered, "now you explain why in the world you did this."

To be honest, I was somewhat shocked that he had managed to take out all of these Snagem members himself, but as I reviewed quickly our surroundings, it occurred to me that there had been no other pokémon around. Chances were, none of these members possessed any pokémon, or at least didn't use them for whatever reason, explaining why Keniblaze at least stood a chance. Based on the convoy's still rather transport formation wreckage positions, they were likely surprise attacked; hit both hard and quickly.

"This plan directly coincided with the incident in Hoenn," Keniblaze started, "not long after we reached Slateport, we received news of Groudon and Kyogre fighting each other." "Your point?" I asked, "what does that have to do with..." "The weather conditions caused by their fight did a lot more damage to the natural environment than you can imagine," Keniblaze cut me off, "entire territorial wars were reversed due to the rain or the drought that hit various areas." "Wait, you still had ties to them even when we were in Hoenn?" Agron exclaimed, "what else should we know?" "If you stop interrupting him he can tell you," Meta stated as it finally joined our group, "essentially, the idea is, something happened in his former natural environment that he isn't happy about."

"My former group had all been killed by the sudden flooding of the Safari Zone, the next area they had been trying to conquer," Keniblaze continued, "of course, they had decided to grow a lot in numbers after I was captured, but the point is, my two closest friends were killed because Groudon and Kyogre were sent on a rampage by the actions of Team Aqua and Magma." "What does that have to do with Team Snagem, who were only snagging trainer's pokémon at the time and did not yet have a connection with Cipher?" I asked, "the two seem rather unrelated."

"But they are," Keniblaze insisted, "they are very connected. The violent nature of artificial shadow pokémon had to be developed based on the violent nature of wild pokémon. And Groudon and Kyogre fighting each other was not at all a peaceful event." "So you're saying Cipher was gathering data from the incident the whole time?" I asked, "what does this still have to do with..." "Team Snagem was also gathering data," Keniblaze growled, glaring at me for interrupting yet again, "they were gathering data on the power of wild pokémon when exposed to elements that they greatly dislike." "Hate is more like it..." Cambrai muttered, "Groudon and Kyogre really don't like each other very much."

"I see the connection," Agron reasoned, "the pokémon here in Orre don't like humans at all, especially the wild pokémon, and find their presence both oppressive and damaging, particularly when their domesticated 'pets' as they would have it, are set upon them." "Precisely," Keniblaze explained, "by causing pokémon to hate humans even more by allowing Cipher to create Shadow Pokémon from wild ones, then actually helping some of those shadow pokémon get into the wild, they exposed the potential horrors of a select number of humans to the wild population, darkening the outlook for the whole."

"But that does not explain how that Shadow Lugia and Moltres fit into this equation," I interjected, "as far as I know of, they were purified and released into the wild without a hitch, but that was nearly six years after the incident in Hoenn." "I don't know how Team Snagem managed to make all of these supposed coincidences work in their favor," Keniblaze evaluated, "but if I understand correctly, they used the 'Shadow Snagger' to snag shadow pokémon along the side of Wes and Adam during their respective ventures." "But if Team Snagem had the capability to snag pokémon, then why not re-emerge?"

"Team Snagem was smart enough to know that once their former main base was exposed, they had to be more careful to avoid getting completely shut down," Keniblaze explained, "I've been gathering intelligence from sources in Sinnoh as well, some willing, and some not so willing, but they essentially had to make the condition of being a shadow pokémon contractible, or at least spreadable, in order to ensure that wild pokémon could be converted more naturally, so that they would not emit a shadowy aura like the artificial ones." "Essentially, removing Cipher's original mistake?" Agron filled in, "by removing the shadow pokémon's trademark, they removed their detectability." "Precisely," Meta exclaimed, "and in doing such, they were secretly creating more shadow pokémon by natural reproductive means the entire time!"

"But that would have taken generations to get to the number that attacked Pyrite, or even Phenac for that matter!" I argued, "there is no way that they could have done that within the given time frame." "Not without a pokémon capable of darkening the hearts of pokémon," Cambrai corrected, "with a pokémon with that ability, then it would have been very possible." "But to ally with a pokémon would be difficult without being able to understand it," Meta also added, "which means, they must have had a pokémon working on the sidelines, or even in the back spotlight who was capable of making all of this possible!"

"But what pokémon could actually do all of that?" I inquired, "what pokémon is powerful enough to literally blend two, three, four languages into a commonly shared one?" "A force that has been around long enough to know the languages of all humans and pokémon," Keniblaze muttered, "a being capable of actually having the energy to exert such a thing." "That would be one hell of a Christmas wish," Katty joked, hoping to ease the tension, "blow out the candles and make a wish." "That's it!" I exclaimed, "there is only one pokémon that Team Snagem could have used to carry out that part of the plan!" "I haven't been following this very well, but which one?" Emperion asked, "what pokémon could literally make Team Snagem's wish come true?"

"Jirachi," I said in awe, "the legendary wish maker of Hoenn." "Who?" Emperion asked with a confused look on his face, "who is Jirachi?" "Impossible," Agron argued, "Jirachi was recorded to have perished centuries ago." "But like Groudon and Kyogre, certainly it had a successor, or maybe even a child!" I countered, "somehow, Jirachi had to pass on its power!" "The Shadow Snagger was pretty much like the snag machine Adam used to 'save' the world in the fact that it automatically detected shadow pokémon with an aura reader," Keniblaze muttered, "however, it could also be used to turn a snagged victim into a shadow pokémon almost instantly upon capture by creating conditions that would cause the pokémon to close its heart to the world around it out of pain, terror, or merely fear."

"Now that that has been explained," Agron chuckled, his question finally answered, "now we just need to find a long dead wish maker." "Wait a minute," Katty exclaimed, "I think I know how Jirachi could have passed on its power!" "Enlighten us," I ordered, "and make it snappy, I'm actually starting to get kind of hungry." ... What? It wasn't like I had had any breakfast yet, and my dinner consisted of nothing but berries. And I don't exactly remember eating lunch yesterday either. "Remember the legend of the Orre Jirachi?" Katty excitedly began, "the legend stated that Jirachi had a trainer that was very close to it!"

"So you're insisting that Jirachi passed on its power to a human?" Keniblaze teased, "I have to admit, that is about the craziest thing I have ever heard come out of your mouth." "But it is our best shot," I countered, then turned towards Keniblaze once again, "You didn't destroy all of those vehicles did you?" "No," Keniblaze said, pointing towards the lead vehicle, "I left one of them standing so that we could clear out the second I got through interrogating..." "Oh yeah, about that..." Emperion blurted before I interrupted. "Let's get in that truck and get out of here," I interrupted, "this is too big for us." "Jack, I haven't been this close to getting the bastards who killed my friends!" Keniblaze growled, "I am not leaving Orre!"

Too bad was what I almost said, but refrained from doing so, as he would have fled the second I said that. Instead, I shrugged in feinted concession. "Alright then, let's go to Eclo Canyon." Keniblaze smiled, thanked me, then cautiously walked past us. The second he passed me, however, I unveiled his pokéball, clicked the red button on the back, and instantly watched as Keniblaze was rapidly returned to his pokéball. "He is gonna be pissed, but my party has been in enough danger lately," I growled, "alright then everybody except for Agron back in their balls." There were no protest, sighs of relief actually ran rampant as I returned the rest of my party, save for Agron.

"Why save for me?" Agron asked, "why am I still out here?" "Because you are the only one here besides me who knows how to operate a Snagem scout truck," I said as I started walking towards the vehicle, "and besides, you know how to get to Gateon Port." "This is an off road vehicle, but it won't fly over the water," Agron reminded me, "and I don't think that place is still in one piece." "Doesn't matter," I snickered, "because I still have one ride out of here." I held up a pair of keys, a keychain that depicted a kyogre on its end. Agron smiled, hopped into the driver's seat, then revved the engine. As the truck lifted from the ground, I hopped into the back, where the machine gun was mounted, and sat in the operator's chair. "Here we go!" I shouted as the vehicle raced off from where it was across the desert sands...

"Found her!" Uxie declared as Groudon growled at a particular imaginary image, "she is headed straight for... Citidark Island, from... Cipher's old laboratory?" "Well, at least we don't have to go chasing her down," Mespirit sighed in relief, "and besides, maybe she will bring useful information with her." "No, we still need to meet her," Uxie retorted, "she is with Kyogre, which I'm shocked about, but the bad news is that both are being pursued by a powerful spirit." "Whatever it is, if it has harmed my Groudon..." Groudon threatened, "it will wish it were never spawned!" "Touching, but I think you should keep from any fighting," Uxie warned, "you are still not in any shape at all to be fighting."

Suicune and Arctic were on the verge of giving up their search when they spotted smoke in the distance. As they rushed towards it, they were confronted with a burning building, its former inhabitants strewn here and there on the ground. What remained of the humans, however, was not what disturbed Suicune; it was that pokémon that seemed to had been domesticated were the attackers, and they were being led by Mewtwo. Razi was nowhere to be found, but it was clear that he had retreated to this former pokémon research facility; there was a chance that his hosts were regretting letting him in.

"What do we do?" Arctic asked, "if we burst in there, aurora beams on full blast, we are going to end up like those humans." "I hate to say it, but you may be right," Suicune admitted, "we can't charge in there without knowing our enemy's strength." "So what now?" Arctic inquired, "I no longer sense Arceus; and we certainly can't just leave Orre with all that is going on!" A chilling wind passed, and a few loud stomps later, a groudon and a kyogre suddenly came bursting from the undergrowth, terror written on their faces.

"What in the world?" Suicune began as she attempted to stop the two, "hey slow down, where's the giratina?" "RUN!" Groudon exclaimed, "we have to get the fuck out of here!" "We are being pursued by a psycho ghost that used to rule the world!" Kyogre exclaimed, neither the levitating king of the sea or the on fours sprinting queen of the land slowing down for a second. As they zoomed past at a surprisingly breakneck speed, a sudden barrier of ice formed, blocking their escape.

Simultaneously, the entire area suddenly began attaining a lower temperature, and the madness inside the human facility stopping instantly. An overwhelming feeling of fear emitted from all those present, although most had no idea what was causing the deep down, quite natural emotion. "Who precisely are you running from?" Suicune stuttered as she began shivering, "and anyone else feel sort of light headed?" "I think we are going into shock!" Kyogre chattered as he began shivering vigorously, "at this rate, we are going to be out cold within minutes." "Not if I have anything to say about it!" Groudon roared as she roared into the sky.

Although the morning sun had yet to fully rise, its rays were intensified, and at least to a degree, the temperature decrease reversed to an increase, although things stabilized somewhere near 31 degrees, still rather cold considering the temperature that had been there just moments ago. Mewtwo, followed by a small force of very confused pokémon exited the pokémon center under the leadership of what looked to be a fully healed Latios, who clearly had been restored in the lab before the attack. "Kyogre, are you trying to kill us all with Sheer Cold?" Mewtwo demanded as he walked onto the field of corpses, ignoring their very presence, "because if so, you almost did the trick." "Wait, I didn't do that," Kyogre said, "if I would have done that, do you think I would be the one shivering my fins off?"

"If you didn't do it," Latios concluded, "then that means that ghost that just got here did." Groudon got a look of horror on her face the second Latios mentioned the ghost. "We need to get out of here before Gislea..." she started when Mewtwo interrupted her. "Gislea? You mean, THE Gislea?" "Yes, that would be me Mew," Gislea roared as she fazed into the clearing, an eerie fog beginning to settle over the area, the fog thickening within seconds to a point where one could hardly see three feet in front of them. "That is Mewtwo to you Gislea," Mewtwo uneasily said, "what are you doing here?" Gislea ceased her actions, smiled, then retorted, "You are fortunate that what I came here to get is practically staring me in the face."

The fog dissipated, but at the same time Latios yelped in surprise as Gislea's ghostly figure slammed him to the ground. The latios shined brightly and flickered until it was revealed to be a man in yellow, seemingly unconscious from the severe blow. "Truly you are the successor of the steel wish maker!" Gislea announced, "you sure have been busy putting everything into place haven't you?" Razi suddenly began showing signs of being conscious again, as if he had merely been sleeping, looked up to Gislea, then growled, "You... You set me up!"

Gislea chuckled, and with a smile whispered, "No, I didn't set you up; I set Cipher up to set Snagem up to set Mewtwo up to set Giratina up to set Shade up to set you up. Quite the difference you see." "So you are the one who has been manipulating everyone this whole time!" Suicune hissed, "you bitch!" Gislea merely glanced at Suicune, then spat, "Look who's talking, you excuse for a female dog!" Suicune barked viciously at Gislea, then dashed towards her, the entire time glowering with anger. "No you fool!" Mewtwo shouted as he charged a black sphere of aura.

Gislea emitted a powerful pulse from her mouth that flattened the ground it flew over towards the charging Suicune, who promptly dodged it and fired off a beam of ice towards Gislea. The beam went straight through the ghost and stuck a tree, which, upon beginning its descent to the ground, creating a useful walkway for Suicune to run along as she ran up to Gislea's level. Arctic took flight in an attempt to attack, but Gislea formed a ring with her mouth and merely exhaled a strong gust of wind that knocked Arctic out of the sky and back to the ground on his back.

Suicune rushed at Gislea's long neck, fangs bared and slightly glowing as Mewtwo hurled the black aura sphere towards Gislea's torso. Gislea swirled around, brought a single wing to swat Suicune down towards the black sphere, and then spouted a powerful cannon of water at Mewtwo. Mewtwo dodged the attack, but as he did so his minions were knocked by the blast of water out cold as they were launched back into the research lab. As they all crashed into it, the last bit of support for it fell apart, and it caved in.

Groudon at this point was finally finished charging, and fired a more powerful than usual solar beam at Gislea. The beam, much to her surprise, actually hit Gislea, knocking her off of her feet and onto the ground with a large thud. Kyogre then followed up with a single ice beam at the downed lugia, and as the attack nailed the rising pokémon straight in the chest, it sent Gislea flying back into the trees, phasing through much of the trees until she landed roughly onto the ground, flattening the patch of forest there.

"Why are only some things phasing in and out?" Kyogre pondered, "she should either phase everything or nothing at all!" "She was preparing to attack!" Groudon exclaimed as she rushed towards the crater Suicune was supposedly in, "she has to be solid in order to attack!" "Too bad that won't help you!" Gislea snarled as her eyes glowed a bright white. She instantly held out a wing, and the weak Razi literally flew into her wing's grasp, almost as if the two had been magnetically attracted to each other. "Next time you see me, you shall bow down to me!" Gislea threatened as she faded out, along with Razi, from the scene.

Ever the late ones, Uxie, Mespirit, Azelf, and Groudon arrived on the scene moments after Gislea vanished. "We missed her," Mespirit observed, "this is not good." "What isn't good is that Suicune is not responding to me!" Groudon cried, "she isn't moving either!" "Move aside," Mespirit advised, "let someone smaller check her pulse. Groudon obediently shuffled away, seemingly unaware of her fellow groudon's presence on the scene as Mespirit a single hand upon Suicune's neck. After a few tense moments, Mespirit sighed in relief. "It is faint, but she lives," Mespirit replied, "she needs medical attention though!" "I have got this," Azelf exclaimed, rubbing her two hands together, "now go check on Mewtwo and anyone else who was hurt!"

"Do you realize what you have done!" Arceus panted as he wearily continued his fruitless chase of Rita, ducking through random projectiles, rocky platforms, vines, and random waterfalls. Rita snickered as she realized that Arceus was wearing down. Of course, she wasn't in such great shape either as far as stamina was concerned, and knew it was only a matter of time before she wore it too. It was basically a chase to see who gave out first, and since she had chose to revert to her Altered Forme rather than stay in her Origine Forme, she also had to work with the terrain, though she was far more accustomed to it.

As Arceus charged up yet another hyper beam, suddenly his entire body refused to obey his commands, and right on top of a metallic platform, he collapsed, breathing heavily from exhaustion, the premature beam fading from existence. Cautiously, like prey checking on its seemingly down predator, Rita edged towards Arceus. "Why?" Arceus groaned, "why would you do this?" "Because," Rita said with a smile, "I want to see something." "See what?" Arceus spat, "the destruction of our world as we know it?"

Rita smiled yet again as she lowered her head to Arceus' level. "No... I just want to see what the alternative to freeing you was." Arceus spotted breathing for a moment, and then looked up at Rita. "Say again?" he stammered, clearly confused, "what alternative?" "Arceus, did you really think that you magically got out of the Distortion World last time because of some divine being?" Rita teased, "if so, then you are more of a child then I took you for." Arceus struggled to his feet, but Rita knocked him onto his side with a single tap to the side. "Arceus... I was created to manage this world," Rita whispered into his ear as she stepped above him, feet firmly planted on his four corners, "Altered or Origin, I was made to keep this world in check."  
"But what motive was there to freeing me?" Arceus demanded to know, "there must have been a motive after you were the one who put me there for attacking Shade!" Rita sighed, then replied, "Do you remember what you said to me the first time we spoke to each other?" Arceus blinked, then replied, "Yes, I do actually." "Repeat it." "What?" "Am I speaking Japanese or something? Repeat those words to me." "Don't you realize how long that has been..." "Say them, or else I will not let you up."

Arceus attempted to rise, but Rita's body blocked his upward direction, and it occurred to him that she could technically have her way with him. At this realization, he sighed, then muttered, "The whole thing?" "Every word," Rita answered, "don't skip any of them." Begrudgingly, Arceus began his recitation, hesitating a few places, but mostly recited it perfectly,

_You see the world down there? Yes, there! And now look at the world behind us... I have been commissioned to govern one, while you were commission to rule the other. Life and death... But you see, one cannot exist without the other, for how will we know that we live without knowing death, and vise versa? Those creatures there that walk always on twos... They do not stand a chance against being such as ourselves. If we are to rule both, in a union, then we must not only protect pokémon..._

"But they too," Arceus recited, "because both enter those worlds. What does that have to do with anything?" "If I would not have freed you, then what do you think would have eventually happened to humans?" Rita inquired, "once Gislea would have found out about Mewtwo's treachery and who he betrayed her to, then what do you think would have happened?" "She would have done everything in her power to put down the rebellion!" Arceus retorted, "that is the same thing we would have done."

"Oh?" Rita muttered, "is it the same thing you would have done if you were given the chance?" "Most likely." "Then tell me; when trainers first emerged, and they toppled and destroyed your vassals' kingdoms, then tell me; why didn't you destroy them then?" Rita snarled, "why didn't you let me have my wrath upon them? Instead, like a sword in a sheathe, you kept me here." Arceus did not immediately answer, but Rita already knew the answer.

But Arceus already knew she knew the answer, so he did not want to let her keep running the ball game. "Why would you allow Gislea to go back into time and actually save herself from being betrayed?" Arceus snarled, "why would you do that? That would mean certain death for them!" "Because," Rita muttered, "in this time and nature, humans and pokémon are already working together; and I have already arranged for the human fate not to be sealed." "Look whose playing God now!" Arceus accused, "you are trying to play God! You and I both know that is not exactly a smart road to play!"

"You had your turn," Rita announced, "but this time; I have mine. And I think there are some creatures that want to have a word with you." Rita got off of Arceus, much to his relief, then as he looked around for said creatures, he quickly shivered. A chill overcame Arceus, and before he knew it, he was backing away; right into Rita. "Arceus, you knew we had to confront them eventually," Rita firmly stated, "do not try to back out of this again."

Arceus was about to turn and flee, but Rita quickly slammed him into the ground, her foot on the center of his side. Emerging from the shadows were two pokémon, and as one looked towards Arceus, it snarled, "Release him Giratina; that is an order." Rita released Arceus, and as Arceus arose, the other creature snarled, "You shall stay here and hear what we have to say; THAT, is an order Arceus." Arceus froze on the spot, his eyes pasted to the two shadowy figures who spoke with such authority. Much to his surprise, he was actually obeying them.

"Who are they?" Arceus stammered, "and more importantly, why are we listening to them?" "Arceus," Rita snickered, "remember when you allowed that 'hero' to capture me?" "Well, yes, but..." Arceus started until he said slowly, "but... that was you..." Rita turned to Arceus. "I hate to break it to you, but we do actually have someone to answer to. Don't give me that look though, they are not human, nor were they ever." Arceus sighed in apparent relief, although the figures coughed and entered the light.

When Arceus beheld the two figures in the slight glow that had appeared from practically nowhere, he gasped. Standing in front of him was another giratina; and another arceus. Arceus blinked once, speechless, before passing out next to Rita, landing with a thud at her feet.

Rita gritted her teeth, then hissed through clenched teeth, "Stop it Arceus, you're embarrassing us both!" "It is fine Giratina," the other Arceus stated, "he will live; how have you been hun?" "Pfft, better than us I bet," the other Giratina retorted, "so tell me, how did you get Arceus to come here?" "I had my ways," Rita answered with a small smile, "we'd best get this moving; I can already sense that we have already wasted a large amount of time." "Yeah, and we have some things to discuss," Giratina scorned, "such as why in the hell you are in your Altered Forme..."

Deep within the confines of what used to be Cipher's laboratory, Lugia squeezed through the narrow floor entrance that led towards the caves below that held her chambers. She was in a foul mood, especially after awaking to find that she had been left in a large bit of water, not to mention the fact that the bastards didn't even bother facing her head out of the water. They were lucky that she always kept a reserve supply of air for situations of that nature.

Then again, they were unlucky if Lugia got her talons on them, and that precisely what she planned to do when she burst from the converted railway system in fury. Not even her mother had bothered to check on her, although based on the fact that the place was quieter than a kyogre on the hunt, clearly she had left. As she found her way towards the large chamber that formerly was a storage container, she gasped when she witnessed a black lugia waiting for her.

"Hello Lugia," Shade greeted, "I am so sorry for mistaking you for Gislea; the two of you do look alike. Please, have a seat." As he did not gesture towards anywhere specific, Lugia figured she might as well settle near the large doorway. The roof had long been ripped off by some powerful sandstorm, but it had been replaced by a much taller one sometime near when the lower levels were also altered.

"What are you doing here?" Lugia asked, suspicion written all over her face, "more importantly, how did you find this place?" "I think the better question is what you doing here," Shade joked, "I mean, even with its clear expansion, it's still a tight squeeze don't you think?" "Answer my question," Lugia snapped, "what are you doing here Shade?" "You didn't honestly think I could go all the way to Eclo Canyon without dropping by did you?" Shade answered, "Where is your mother? I know she has been living here for a while now."

Although Lugia was shocked that he had been aware of that little detail, she showed no signs of it. "Out, for now," Lugia answered, "probably out putting the finishing touches on her plan." "Such a shame," Shade sighed, "you know, things could have gone so much differently..." "What do you mean?" Lugia asked, her suspicion clearly showing, "what do you mean by that?" "You could have been quite the heir," Shade sighed, "but alas; Arceus already has you."

"Spit it out Shade," Lugia threatened, spreading out her arms menacingly, "I don't have time for this!" "Well then, I guess we have to make time," Shade snickered, "because I would hate to have to kill my own daughter." "Wait, how do you..." Lugia began until she flared up, a hyper beam in the making. As she fired it, Shade smiled, and watched as the beam came just inches to his neck before it stopped cold. "What the?" Lugia exclaimed as she watched her beam quite literally freeze in place. Shade stepped from the beam's trajectory and walked over to a shocked and immobile Lugia. Lugia attempted to move, but she would not even budge, despite her best efforts.

"Don't worry dear, this will only hurt at first," Shade snickered as he stood behind her, "otherwise, I'll be gentle." Lugia continued to struggle as Shade wrapped his arms behind her, and she snarled as he licked her neck. Then, in the same place he had licked her, he bit down hard, causing Lugia to scream in agony. As Shade released his jaws from their place, a black mark remained where Lugia had been bit, and quite quickly it began spreading, Lugia's various blood vessels turning black in the process.

Lugia howled in agony as the black spot spread rapidly, at this point her efforts at movement became more visible, as her writhing actually gained ground. As her eyes began glowing a fierce red and her color began to mimic Shade's more and more, she suddenly went limp, panting heavily as the tips of her wings finished changing. "See?" Shade whispered into her ear, "that wasn't so bad now was it?" He then caught the somewhat suspended lugia as she was released from whatever had held her. "Good job Dialga," Shade silently congratulated, "you are turning into a fine being." Dialga suddenly became visible, as it seemed he had actually been standing right next to Lugia's entranceway the entire time, and as Lugia glimpsed the new Dialga, she gasped.

Although Dialga's body shape remained the same, it had underwent clearly a completely different color scheme, the previously normal blue of its body altered to dark navy blue, the white portions of the body being turned orange, and the diamond that once shone blue now glowed an eerie black. Dialga replied, "Thank you, my lord." Shade smiled at himself after that particular comment, then inquired, "Has Palkia finally surrendered?" Dialga smiled, then answered, "It will only be a little longer till he stops fighting. He does not have the strength to continue to resist."

"Excellent then!" Shade happily stated as he released Lugia, who fell onto the metal floor with a rather loud thud. Lugia weakly looked up at Shade as her breathes became shallower and shallower. "What... Have... You done..." she muttered as she fainted. Shade nuzzled Lugia affectionately, and then ordered, "Get her back to the palace. And while you are at it, fetch me Rayquaza." "Will you meet her here, master Shade?" Dialga asked as it circled Lugia, "or shall you meet in a different location." Shade smirked, then looked towards the sun still rising in the sky. "Tell her to meet me in Eclo Canyon; make sure she brings the Regi Trio. There are some loose ends that need to be tied..."


	14. Chapter 14 'The Prized Captured'

**Chapter 14**

Arceus slowly came to, and the feeling of soft, green grass below him ushered him to slumber on. However, as it came to him that his last known location had indeed been the Distortion World, he shot up in alarm. All around him was an endless green field, tall, waving grass concealing the very ground it grew from. This eventually broke off to his right towards a crystal clear, sparkling sea filled with the bobbing shapes of what seemed to be pokémon. The high, steep cliffs eventually circled to form a natural harbor, where a lonely beach lay, breaking the scenic grasslands view. The bright blue sky supported large, fluffy clouds that looked more like white cotton candy than clouds, some shaped in various forms. The sun was projected just the right amount of heat to create comfort, but still do its job, even as it was straight in the sky; the sign of noon. Arceus blinked, blinked again, and then shook his head to ensure he was not merely hallucinating.

Once it was established that it was no mere illusion, Arceus slowly rose to his feet and took a quick look around once more. The grass was no taller than he was, but considering how tall he was, that grass had been growing quite unabated for awhile. He was in a wild field, undisturbed by humans or pokémon. Off in the distance, a large gathering seemed to be taking place. Arceus took in one deep breath, then smiled. Fresh, sea breeze, undisturbed by the artificial air that constantly was spat out from human ports. Crisp, clean, clear... He was certainly no longer in his world, that was for sure.

"Where the hell am I?" he asked, mostly to himself, seeing as the gathering was far to far away to hear him. Arceus took a few nervous steps forward, only to be confronted by a force keeping him rooted to the place. "Ah, you're awake," a sweet, gentle voice said, "Arceus, welcome to MY world." Arceus dared take a look at the speaker who, as he feared, was another arceus. However, it was clear that he was dealing with one just a squirtle taller, who held itself with a certain dignity that Arceus himself had not possessed ever since he had been locked in the Distortion World during the usurpation.

"Who are you?" Arceus demanded, "and you better not give me any of that 'I am you' crap!" "Heavens no!" the arceus laughed, "the last person I would want to be is you Arceus, and it is not just because you are out of your world." "Then... Where am I?" Arceus asked, "why am I here? More importantly, what world am I in?" "My world," arceus gently reminded Arceus, although the tone revealed restrained impatience, "to keep you on the same ground, you can call me Ace." "A strange name for a pokémon, but I am not complaining," Arceus commented, "now, answer my questions!"

"You are in no position to be demanding anything Arceus," Ace warned, the previously sweet tone wavering, "this is MY world; and until I see fit, I shall not let you go save yours." "What the fuck?" Arceus exploded, "the hell you are, 'letting' me do anything!" At that moment, Arceus suddenly found himself forced onto the ground, the only sight being green from the grass his head was now buried in. His body would not respond to him, and as Ace snickered, Arceus demanded, "What is the meaning of this?" "Arceus, it is time to be educated," Ace bellowed in a haughty tone, "I am your teacher, and you shall be my student. Refuse this arrangement and I shall see to it that you never return to your world again!"

Rita opened her own eyes to a different view. Down below her was a small group, their shapes very much like dots from where she stood. Rita looked towards Giratina, who had arrived next to her. "Who are they?" she asked before being forcibly thrown onto the ground. Giratina pinned her down using its own body. Rita didn't seem disturbed, and apparently this pleased Giratina. "Let me guess; you were expecting that?" Giratina snickered. "Well, after Ace roughly hurled Arceus into the portal, jumped in, and left me with you, I sort of connected the dots," Rita joked, "I mean, if the gentle diety is hurling around its counterpart, then hey, what does that mean for the not so gentle one?"

"Lucky for the both of us Ace and I had our fun with each other before coming here," Giratina growled, dragging out the o's, "or else I would be so horny right now!" Rita apparently was disturbed by that fact. "Had your fun?" Rita repeated, "or you'd be horny... What the hell did you two do..." "Well unlike you and Arceus, we have a very... Special relationship beyond the whole roles we were given," Giratina eagerly explained, "let's just say that our Dialga and Palkia call us mommy and daddy." "Eww," Rita said in disgust, "I don't even want to know more." "Good," Giratina commented, "I wasn't going to bother telling you more." "You greatly enjoyed telling me," Rita retorted, "I can literally feel it." Giratina shifted, then chuckled.

"Well, I guess I still have some left," Giratina joked, "I suppose there is no such thing as satisfaction hm?" "Get on with it, what are those dots down there?" Rita gruffly demanded, "unlike Arceus, I have come here of my free will, and would like to not waste my time." "Alright then, fair enough," Giratina stated, "you see, down there is the last human settlement in our world. And it is about to be destroyed." "Then you should do something!" Rita argued, "rather than resting on top of me with your... Rather sizeable self." "Oh, you like that?" Giratina asked, "if so, give me a good moan." "Listen you horny stud," Rita suggested, "tell me and maybe we can have a secret little woo-hoo before Ace and Arceus return to the Distortion World."

Giratina grinned sinisterly, dismounted Rita, then bellowed, "You see, here in this world, there will be no humans; we just don't' have room." "The pokémon population can't possibly be that large," Rita argued, although she didn't rise from her awkward position on the cliff, "and this is a pretty large world." "Not really," Giratina retorted, "you see, to make sure your world didn't repeat the mistake of ours, you were specifically told to not let your legendries have the capability to breed right?" "Right," Rita said, finally standing, "what does that have to do with anything?" "Well, most legendries are rather large," Giratina darkly answered, "and an entire civilization of humans just eats too much... Now, we made a decision. Our loyal legendries, or a species that barely can fight off Celebi?"

Rita stared at Giratina in horror. "You are not supposed to take sides like that!" Rita accused, "you are supposed to work for the eventual better of all species!" "But you see, this was precisely one millennium ago, the same age where you decided to lock Arceus in the Distortion World," Giratina stated, "humans have long been gone from the present day world here." "And you didn't do anything?" "Well, I, Rajin, and Ace decided that humans were unfit to breathe the same air; so we dumped whatever was left of them in your world and destroyed the remainder." "So you're telling me that the humans who started befriending pokémon..." "Were the same ones who were unwittingly fleeing from the very creatures that would destroy them. Your entire trainer system is set up and based upon a very ironic friendship!"

"But... Why?" Rita asked as the time view began fading into a full white world, "why did you do it and not tell us?" "We told Arceus," Rajin retorted, "but since he was still quite sore about you helping Gislea and Shade conquer the world, he must not have passed on the information." "How did you..." "Time and space, matter and energy," Rajin explained with a smile, "we had the tools; and we used them." Rita shook her head in dismay. "Then... Where did Gislea come from?" Rita asked, "because something is starting to actually add up." "Gislea is OUR original lugia," Rajin answered with a sinister smile, "I personally planted that surprise under Ace's radar prior to the actual deportation of the humans."

"Oh no..." Gislea gasped, "if Gislea is a lugia from this world, and all pokémon of the age wanted to destroy humans..." "Then guess what is gonna happen because you thought you were right about her the first time?" Rajin smiled, "you see, you also had a lesson to learn from this." "I have to get back now!" Rita demanded, "take me back to the Distortion World..." "I don't think so," Rajin retorted, "I hate to break it to you, but I used a large amount of energy transporting the four of us. You aren't going back anytime soon." "Use my energy then!" Rita pleaded, "just get me and Arceus back to..." "Oh... So now it's you and Arceus?" Rajin snickered, "if you want my help; then you will need to personally tell him your reason." "That is unreasonable!" Rita whined, "Arceus can barely handle his own job let alone be the reason our world suffers!"

Rajin gave a quick flap of his wings. "That kind of thinking is why the two of you are stuck here," Rajin scolded, "you are not superior to Arceus nor will you ever be superior to him! Get over it! You can kill him, beat him, lock him up, destroy his very soul, but you will never be superior to him!" Rita roared, then charged at Rajin in blind fury. Rajin merely took the blow head-on, a rather loud crack resounding as the two bumped heads. Being more prepared, Rajin staggered a bit, then shook it off. Rita, who had not been so prepared for a counter of that nature fainted, falling to the ground in a heap. "Tsk tsk tsk," Rajin muttered, "Rita... It is time to be educated..."

Meanwhile, back in the Orre region of my world, a small white lab was the only sign of civilization within miles. However, inside the lab itself, an impatient white and red lugia awaited the awakening of her human captive.

Slowly the human began regaining conscious, although it was immediately clear that he was no longer at the pokémon research lab. Much rather, it seemed he was somewhere else; judging by the cold floor and his scratchy clothes, he was back in the desert areas of Orre, probably some sort of laboratory. Hold on a minute... Scratchy clothes? With a frenzied expression, the man shot up from his laying down position into a sitting one, only to stare at the rather large form of Gislea, the red and white lugia. "Hello Razi," she snickered, "nice to know you're awake." Hesitantly, the man lifted a single arm, only to recoil in horror at what he saw.

"Alright then, now for my wish..." Gislea started when the man suddenly rose to his feet. It was a shaky rise, as if he was not accustomed to walking on two legs. "Gislea, there is a huge mistake here!" the man blurted as he recognized who was standing in front of him with outstretched wings, "I am not who you think I am!" "Sure you are," Gislea said, "I mean, as far as looks I wouldn't call you handsome, but for the heir to Jirachi's power..." "Gislea, it's me, Latios!" the man cried, "that bastard Razi switched myself with him!" Gislea didn't seem convinced, and considering how weird it sounded, could not be blame her for disbelieving.

"Really?" Gislea said in a sarcastic tone, "you're telling me that the human Razi switched bodies with you the moment I struck him?" "Well, it wasn't really him you struck in that sense..." Gislea chuckled, then retorted, "Prove it. Prove that you are Latios and not Razi trying to get out of this." "Gislea, if there is one thing that I, Latios, know that could hopefully prove your point is that you may be Shade's mate, and you may have grown up here, but you are **not** from this world!" the man answered, some disparity in his voice, "in fact, neither is the Mewtwo I serve..." Gislea cut him off with a single raised wing. She had heard enough apparently. "So tell me, if you are 'Latios', then where is Razi?" Gislea inquired, "any psychic could have eventually uncovered what happened, so I doubt he is still hanging around with Mewtwo."

" I am unsure," Latios cried, "all I know is, I am like a fish out of water!" "Apparently, I wonder if you can even walk in a human body," Gislea teased as she swiftly turned her back to him. As she began focusing her mind upon the human behind her, she suddenly found something she had not sensed when she had taken the human captive; a very familiar barrier. She growled, then swerved around. "It seems you still have that mental barrier I put on you back during your days as my assassin Latios," she growled, "so tell me, how did he possibly switch minds with you? A mere human with such psychic capabilities is certainly a dangerous threat." "I am not completely sure, but we have to do something about this!" Latios said, "I need to get my body back!" "Calm down, I am almost absolutely sure on where he is going," Gislea muttered as she glanced out the window, a dust cloud preceding a blurry figure, "my guess is Eclo Canyon."

"Why in the world would he risk passing right by us for that?" Latios inquired, "clearly he is not stupid." "He is probably unaware of where I took you," Gislea replied, still eyeing the high speed figure heading eastward, "capturing him now has been made much easier." "How so?" Latios argued, "he now can pretty much use my strength, speed, and uncanny stealth to evade us at every turn!" Gislea smiled, a new object coming onto the mental radar of presences. "Latios, you do remember why I hate humans so much right?" Gislea muttered, "don't you?" "You hate them so much because they could literally bend us to their will with a single command!" Latios retorted, "but what does that have to do with..." Gislea smiled, and with a single wing, motioned for Latios to board her back. "Razi is a legendary pokémon now," Gislea snickered, "and a certain organization has quite the interest in legendaries..."

Speeding through the almost endless deserts of the Orre region, a Snagem escort truck created a dust cloud as it hovered over the terrain with ease, its occupants being Agron and myself. Agron had recently turned up the radio to pass the time while I personally bent my knees somewhat, the standing almost perfectly straight looking down the sight position clearly taking its toll after several hours of uneventful traversing.

"Yo Jack!" Agron asked, bobbing his head as he listened some random music, of which I could not identify specifically, "tell me, after we leave Orre, where we headed to next?" "I don't know, maybe the next frontier," I stated, "maybe we will take a trip to Unova. I hear there are a crap-load of new, currently rare pokémon that would certainly catch some eyes here in Orre." "Does that mean you plan on coming back again?" Agron inquired, "because if so, you might wanna exclude Keniblaze from that particular part of the trip." "Why?" I asked, keeping a tight grip on the rather large trigger for the mounted machine gun on the back of the hover truck, "if anything, I think Keniblaze would be even angrier at me for doing that."

The random plateaus that we passed were of little interest, and Agron was driving moderate speed for an open stretch of land with no speed limits, so the only main source of entertainment was keeping an eye out for desert pokémon and chatting. "I hate to say it, but if Keniblaze ever got the chance to be here again, I think he would desert us and head straight for Eclo Can..." Agron explained until he suddenly turned the wheel. The vehicle sharply turned on a dime, and as I was unprepared for his sharp turn, I went flying from my position, landing roughly in the desert sand and rolling until I hit a rather hard rock.

On my back, feet in the air and tasting sand, I bit back a flood of choice curse words as I slowly attempted to recover my bearings. The large rock that my feet had went up against suddenly shifted and fell backwards, luckily not onto me. As I staggered to my feet, spat out sand and gave my clothing a good shake, I swirled towards the sound of struggle. Agron had already long leaped from the truck, but it became clear that he was in a tussle with... An injured latios?

I reached for my backpack, only to realize that it was still in the truck. I decided that there was a time for everything and took out my rather special premiere ball from my left pocket. It was not a common pokéball, nor was it sold in stores, adding to its 'uncommonness', and the chance of catching anything in it was supposedly quite low, but it would be the perfect method for stalling for time.

"Agron!" I shouted, "give that thing a good whack so it will stop moving!" Grunts, growls, and some rolling later, Agron had managed to pin the rather large eon pokémon to the ground, although based on its struggling, it was not going to call it quits yet. "Alright then, first legendary catch!" I howled as I hurled the white and red pokéball towards the struggling pokémon. As it vanished into the pokéball, I rushed over to the truck, using the small amount of down time to rifle through my backpack for my Ultra balls, which were far more efficient, as it seemed likely the latios would easily break free, despite its injuries.

As I pulled out an ultra ball and whirled around, more than ready to catch the legendary pokémon, I was shocked when Agron stooped down and picked up the premiere ball. There was no latios in sight which meant only one thing... I had actually caught that thing in a premiere ball! I had missed the signature click that resembled a successful capture, but I had not heard the loud sounds of release either. "I... actually caught it in my premiere ball?" I marveled, "wow, that thing is more effective than I thought." "Not really," Agron corrected, "that latios was pretty badly injured, and me hitting it with the side of the truck didn't help much." Which reminded me that it was his sharp turn that had landed me a mouthful of sand. "Yeah, thanks for not warning me," I growled, "I could have snapped my neck in that roll over there, or knocked my head against that large rock." "You should have been keeping your eyes forward," Agron gently reminded me, "you are the gunner, and the most dangerous threat is the one in front. Didn't they teach _you_ that back in basic training?"

Yes, Team Snagem indeed has a basic training, although by the time I joined all they really needed to teach was how to operate their machinery, as being a trainer had been a requirement for snaggers a few months before. Although I had been far too young to actually drive the vehicle itself, I still needed to know how to, just in case I needed to drive the more experienced members out of danger, or shoot at pursuing vehicles. And to be honest, those were the funnier times of being a Snagem member; I still remember the time I had to essentially hold the trigger in the 'fire' position because several Metagross, Salamence, and a Tyranitar were chasing us down with their trainers and the police. Sure, it sounds easy to avoid at least the Tyranitar, but that pokémon can seriously dig, and if a gaping hole suddenly comes up underneath a hovering vehicle... Well, let's just say it can end badly, particular with a damaged engine. Thankfully Wes had snagged a Metang during that time, and used its psychic abilities combined with his own Espeon's psychic abilities to ensure we did not end up trapped by the clever trainers.

Ah yes, those were the times, and as Agron hopped back into the driver's seat, I sighed as re-mounted the machine gun, this time gripping the gun as if it were a sturdy pole during a powerful hurricane. Translation being that I was gripping it quite tightly as Agron revved the engine, then took back off. We were going to pass by the old Cipher Lab soon, and I wanted to make sure I was fully prepared to shoot anything that was still crawling near the place. I sort of missed the old days, the laughs, the almost family nature of the whole thing, but I certainly did not miss the fear bringing wrath of Gonzap...

Back at the pokémon research lab, or at least what was left of it, most of the remaining legendries were gathered in the clearing, Mewtwo pacing, the Lake Guardians hovering over Suicune, worried expression written on their faces, while the two Groudon sat near a perched Arctic.

"Are you seriously telling me that Latios is nowhere around here!" Mewtwo shouted in frustration, "where the fuck is he?" "Calm down Mewtwo, I'm sure that he is fine," Uxie stated for the eighth time, "we should be more worried about the current status of Razi." "We should be more concerned with where the deities are!" both groudon interjected, "you do realize that they have all been missing for quite awhile now right?" "Yes, we did not fail to notice," Azelf retorted, "sheesh, the two of you should be twins, not couples." "I think we are overlooking a major problem here," Arctic interrupted, "Suicune is still badly injured, and it is not like we can wait for all of these herbs to kick in."

"He's right," Mewtwo cackled, "we should leave the Lake Guardians with the purifier of lakes while the rest of us go on to more important matters." "What IS more important is keeping my trio member alive!" retorted a voice of thunder, "what the hell happened?" Entei, Raikou, and Ho-Oh arrived on the scene in a flurry, the two legendary dogs galloping towards the scene while Ho-Oh naturally flew there. "Well look who has arrived!" Uxie joked, "the cavalry is here! Sound the trumpets, their walls will fall!" Uxie laughed, which actually surprised Mewtwo, but quickly stopped as it realized that it was the only one laughing. "What, none of you get it?" Uxie said, "it is a very historic joke."

"We get it, but we don't find it funny," Entei hissed as she stooped over Suicune, "what happened? It looks like she got hit by an aura sphere and a wing attack in succession." "Not in that order, but pretty much," Mespirit replied, "she is in some rather bad shape." "What have you three been up to?" Black Groudon growled, "I left the cavern halfway expecting you to return from your meeting with Suicune. But you never came back!" "Someone had to snap Entei and Raikou out of their trance," Ho-Oh snapped, her temper rising, "and you had better remember who you are talking to!" "You want some of this?" regular Groudon challenged, "come and get it!"

To prevent a fight from breaking out, Raikou summoned a powerful thunderbolt to strike right between the two, startling Ho-Oh and merely sending regular Groudon sprawling backwards. "What is the matter with you two?" Raikou cried, "Suicune is here near death and you two are ready to add to the list of injured!" "Somebody was gonna get bitch slapped, and it wasn't Entei!" Ho-Oh fiercely cawed while glaring at the two groudon, "and her co-ruler as well!" "You may rule the skies, but you don't you **ever** think you can take me on!" regular Groudon spat, "stay in the sky where you belong you brainless, colorful fearow!" "Oh, that joke is so old that even Suicune has heard it before!" Ho-Oh screeched, "how about you get some original material you bandwagon twit! Letting yourself get captured by a lugia! I am shocked you can even show your face to your counterparts with that on the record!"

Suicune slowly opened her eyes, and as pain began rushing throughout her entire being, she winced, revealing to those paying attention that she was conscious. "Suicune!" Entei cried, nuzzling her trio member, "thank Arceus you are alive!" "That sounds like... Entei?" Suicune murmured, "and Ho-Oh... Who ticked her off?" "I will cut you into fried chicken you hot piece of shit!" regular Groudon threatened, "then feed you to those fucking dogs of yours!" "ENOUGH!" Raikou exclaimed, his entire body alight with electricity, the very air around him cackling with static, "the main point of the matter is that we are late, yes we are, but Suicune is awake! I'm sure the last thing she wants to hear is the two of you going at it like a married same sex couple!" That silenced the two, momentarily as they looked at the slowly coming to Suicune. "Actually Raikou, it was a pleasant reminder that I am not dead," Suicune joked softly, "ugh, I feel terrible. What hit me?" "Talk later," Uxie chided, "right now, you need to stop fighting sleep. You need to rest up so you can be back on your feet in no time." Suicune heeded Uxie and went back to sleep, now clearly snoozing with a soft snore emitting from her muzzle. Entei padded over to Ho-Oh and muttered, "We need to stay here with her." "I know Entei," Ho-Oh sighed, "the rest of you go on; we will take care of Suicune from here."

Mewtwo needed no second telling, and as quickly as would allow, he called Latias and, once again in the leader of a three squad triangle formation with a missing point, flew into the forest, headed for the desert. The two groudon nodded, and as Black Groudon disappeared into the ground, regular Groudon gave Ho-Oh one final look filled with contempt with a touch of sympathy. Ho-Oh accepted the wordless apology and nodded, and with that the groudon duo completely departed, leaving the Lake Guardians with the dog trio. "Ho-Oh... We need to find Arceus," Uxie stated, "do you know where he is?" "Probably in the Distortion World somewhere if I am thinking right," Ho-Oh answered quietly, "I don't think it will be that easy to find him or Rita there." "We need to try something," Mespirit concluded, "I hate to say it, but until those two get back here, we may be stuck in stalemate." "You two go find Arceus; I need to speak with someone who needs to be alerted of Gislea's intentions," Uxie replied, "if I do not meet you there within two hours, assume the worst and continue your search."

As the group vanished, Ho-Oh looked towards Entei and Raikou. "Alright, out with it," Ho-Oh demanded, "what precisely happened?" "Shade had teleported us back to Citidark Island, that part you are aware of," Raikou explained, his sparking finally dying down, "I personally began telling Entei all that Suicune and I had beheld in Arceus' hall not long after we got into trouble for convincing Dialga and Palkia to open a gateway to the Distortion World." "I am now up to date on that," Ho-Oh chided, "cut to the chase."

"Well... Essentially, I took one whiff of the air and bam," Entei hesitantly explained, "out of nowhere I started feeling all sorts of weird, and some strange desire came over me." "A similar notion, but I actually became aroused from the strange aroma," Raikou added with the same amount of hesitance that Entei wielded, "all I wanted to do was to hump something." "What kind of aroma could do all that?" Entei whined, "what kind of scent could drive us to that?" "Sweet scent if you want me to be specific," Ho-OH sighed, "essentially, depending on the user, it can invoke a varied amount of hypnotic states of the mind." "But we personally checked; there was no one there besides us," Raikou countered, "it is impossible for a grass type to have used it against us."

"It is not out of the realm of possibility that it was all in your head," Ho-Oh mused, "the one thing I couldn't compete with on Shade's case was his powerful psychic ability; combined with his knowledge of ghostly arts, I would not be surprised if he himself produced such a powerful illusion." "But when did he have the time to do all of that?" Entei pondered, "I mean, we were fighting the whole time." "Shade is one of the most powerful psychics I know not because of his species, but because of his skill," Gislea noted, "without even moving, he could probably convince your mind that it is one fire." "Why didn't he utilize it in our battle then?" "He did; that is why our attacks kept missing. We kept misjudging the distance and correcting it time after time when in fact, our original distancing had been correct," Ho-Oh informed the two, "it was too subtle for me to notice at the time, but it would explain almost that entire fight."

"But if Shade can literally purge our minds and leave us helpless, why didn't he just subjugate us right then and there?" Raikou suddenly asked, "it doesn't make sense; he had the power to literally put us under his control..." "Apparently, something else aides him in control of creatures," Entei interjected, "whatever it is, it would explain how he managed to operate that entire battle and still conduct general leadership duties to his forces throughout the mountain." "So what do we do with this information?" Raikou muttered, "that battle has already ended." "We try to prevent ourselves from making the same mistake," Ho-Oh also muttered while glancing at Suicune, "and make sure that we solve this mystery before Arceus gets back..."

Unceremoniously, Gonzap and his band of rogues were gathered around in a circle, shouting, poke dollars in their fists. In the middle of the ring was a man and a sandslash, the two in a tight struggle apparently for wrestling dominance. "Slash the guts from him!" "Make him eat dirt!" "Don't let it get you with poison sting!" "Watch out for that bite!" "I'm betting on you, so you had better not lose sandslash!"

My uncle cautiously approached the group, the metallic clanging made by his walking going unnoticed by the crowd of Snagem members. Team Snagem's old, ruined base had certainly become a place for remembrance, apparently remembrance of who Team Snagem had been before they had acquired the snag machines. As he fought his way through the ring, he sighed as he took note of his brother fighting a sandslash.

"Don't you think that we should get going soon Kevin?" Steven shouted above the noise around him, "with everything that is going on, don't you think we should be doing something more... Productive?" Biting on the sandslash's ear, Kevin did not reply, instead pinning down the sandslash's forearms with his arms and its legs with his torso. As the sandslash eventually realized that it was close to defeat, it opened its mouth in preparation for an oral attack, but was quickly head butted in the jaw. The sandslash ceased struggling, and amongst the groans and cheers of the circled crowd, Kevin rose to his feet.

Kevin was a rather tall man, easily reaching six feet in height, towering over most of the Snagem members around him. Wearing a snagger's coat with knee high black boots, all colored blood red, the slight twinkle in his brown eyes throwing off the rather killer look he had. Oddly enough, like many Snagem members, he seemed to be nearly bald, although in actuality he did possess thin sideburns that also ran along the lower back of his head.

Thrilled from his victory, Kevin smiled towards Steven and replied, "Steven, you are just in time, I hear we are going to be having visitors soon!" "Visitors?" Steven replied, clearly confused, "this base is supposedly abandoned. No one knows that we are even here except former and current Team Snagem members." "Don't be so naiive," Gonzap retorted as he collected his money from his fellow members, "of course more people than that are aware that we are out here." Steven looked at his comrades in concern. "Then why aren't we preparing to greet them?" "Because, how do you prepare for a lugia, Regirock, Registeel, regime, and a Rayquaza?" one member joked, "might as well enjoy the last of our lives while we still have it."

"Now now, that is such a gloomy outlook," Kevin cheerfully said, "I think the main reason they are here is because of me." "As a former Cipher member as well, I'm shocked your son hasn't been rounded up and held for ransom yet," Gonzap joked, "I hear he is back in Orre by the way." "He is," John muttered, "we had him in Eclo Canyon, battling against Cynthia for a little while." "I wonder if she has gotten any better since we last battled over seven years ago," Kevin mused, "if so, I wouldn't mind another battle."

"KEVIN!" boomed a stern voice, "get out here now!" It was not a request, and with the snickering of Snagem members in his ear, Kevin walked down the stairs from the Snagem office, heading downstairs towards the source of the noise. Upon getting to the bottom step, an angry tyranitar greeted him fiercely. "You do realize that staying here is a death wish right?" the tyranitar growled, "you need to get out of here now before they arrive." "Calm down Tyra, everything is under control," Kevin whispered, motioning for Steven to join him, "if all goes to plan, the ultimate prize may finally show itself."

Tyra shoved Kevin forward, forcing him to walk ahead of her. "What have I told you about putting yourself recklessly in danger?" Tyra chided, "did it not occur to you that you have a son who has finally come home?" "Jack hasn't paid me a visit ever since he's gotten here." "It isn't like Team Snagem has made it either safe or convient for such a visit!" "You worry too much Tyra." "The last time you said that you nearly got crushed by a lugia!" "Ah, but I caught that son of a bitch didn't I?" Tyra did not respond, most likely because it was a good point, but she did grumble in disapproval. "Listen, the point is bro, you are dealing with powers beyond your understanding," Steven intervened, "you caught an entire trio and their master, but that doesn't make you invincible." Kevin chuckled, then turned to the two of them. He bared his teeth playfully, then boasted, "Trust me, if I have to deal with a psychic type, I'll give it a bite it won't forget." "You wouldn't get close enough for that!" Tyra argued, "and besides, a lugia could send you flying halfway across Eclo Canyon with a sweep of its wing. "Speak of the devil," Steven grumbled, "and who do you get?"

"One angry shadow lugia," Tyra answered as the group walked through a hole in the base's second floor, descending down a ramp to the ground. They could see in the distance the black lugia frantically flying towards them, and as Kevin clicked a square button, a hover bike started up. "Tyra, get into the passenger's seat," Kevin ordered, "Steven, get back into the base and keep an eye on me." "What do you want me to do from here?" Steven asked in concern as the two boarded their vehicle, "talk to you on the radio?" "If you see that lugia getting friends, make sure it gets a taste of all the uncle SAM's in the arsenal," Kevin joked, "and please, do not miss him." "I thought that lugia had been female?" Steven said as Kevin revved the engine, "I thought Tyra checked." "That lugia was female," Kevin replied with a snicker, "I already know that this one won't be." "How do you know that?" Steven exclaimed as he revved off.


	15. Chapter 15 'So you wished it'

**Chapter 15**

Meanwhile, in a world of white, with floating, transparent blocks everywhere, a single solid mass was where two pokémon rested. Celebi and Mew together were chatting about recent events, particularly the disappearance of Arceus. "So where do you think he went?" Celebi inquired, "more importantly, why hasn't he already finished this already?" "Listen, you travel through time; you already know the various complications that are involved here," Mew softly stated, "there are too many creatures wanting to get their share." "Oh?" Celebi joked, "please enlighten me on how many are involved." "Well first there are Gislea and Shade looking for vengeance and lost glory," Mew replied, "then there is Mewtwo looking to escape the wrath of Gislea. And who can forget the Newsoians?" "Hm, what about them?" Celebi retorted, "that family hasn't been important to us since the Dark Ages." "Well, they are still around."

Celebi blinked, at this point somewhat interested. "Still around? You mean, THE Newsoians, not their normal descendants?" "What family do you think I am talking about?" Mew retorted, " one of the two main noble families of modern day Orre." "But I thought they were all killed off?" Celebi argued, "i went through time; I saw that bloodshed." "Well, you didn't see everything," Mew concluded, "the Newsoians are still around; and so are the Williams." "Hm, well then, what are they up to?" Celebi inquired, "certainly those two don't have any ideas of taking over Orre; most of it is a desert now anyway." "You don't get it yet though," Mew chuckled, "one is the hunter; and the other is the hunted." "Well, I would suppose..." Celebi muttered as a shimmering light entered the area.

As the light faded, it revealed Uxie, much to the surprise of Mew and Celebi. "Uxie?" Mew greeted in confusion, "I haven't seen you in a long time." "Long time no see Uxie, what brings you by?" Celebi asked, "it wouldn't make sense that you would come in Arceus' place to tell us when to move." "Trouble is in Eclo Canyon," Uxie rasped, some signs of being out of breath present, "Shade is going to finish off the Newsoians and Williams!" "Who cares?" Celebi joked, "it is not like this is going to matter when Arceus orders me to go with Dialga back into time."

"It isn't that simple Celebi!" Uxie hissed, "if any one of these powers gets their hands on Jirachi, then there will be no turning back the hands of time!" "But Jirachi is either sleeping deep in the caverns of Hoenn or fossilized by now," Mew argued, "we don't need to worry about that nowadays." "Yes we do!" Uxie spat, "have you not gotten it yet? Jirachi was reincarnated into a human!" "But if it has been reincarnated, then it wouldn't retain its original power would it?" Mew gently pointed out, "especially if into a human." "That is not the case!" Uxie sternly corrected, "just because it changes form, does not mean that it loses its original power!" "But if that is the case, then don't you think Arceus would have kept a close eye on him?" "Mew, Arceus does not know that Jirachi reincarnated!"

"Impossible, the ruler of life certainly has to know something like that!" Celebi argued, "there is no way that he could be uninformed about such a thing!" Uxie sighed, silently contemplating how to best explain the situation. "Listen, the point is, I need your help!" Uxie urged, "get off of your rumps and come with me!" "Now hold on a second," Mew countered, "you do realize that we are here under orders of Arceus right?" "No, YOU were ordered to keep an eye on Celebi!" Uxie spat, "Celebi was ordered to stay here. I can understand if you want to stay Celebi, but Mew, you are under no obligation to stay out of this!" "Don't worry Mew," Celebi concluded with a sigh, " I guess if I go, then you can come too, and only one of us will be disobeying orders..."

The white pokémon lab of Orre came into view, and for some odd reason, Agron decided to actually slow down. "Why are you slowing down?" I asked, "this isn't someplace we want to just hang out." "Jack, you have armor piercing bullets loaded into that thing in the back," Agron tonelessly argued, "if anything pops out, you can make it bleed very easily." He made it sound simple, but my gut told me that this was far from being just that easy. However, as we slowed down to a complete stop, I worriedly looked towards Agron. "Uh, Agron..." "Hand over the Latios Jack," Agron muttered, retaining that same lack of tone, "release the Latios in front of the lab, and no one gets hurt."

Yeah, right, I was going to just release my _first_ captured legendary into the wilds of Orre. **Not** going to happen. "Agron, start the truck and let's go!" I growled, "stop fooling around, we need to get moving before we encounter anything serious!" Agron grunted, roughly slammed an arm down onto the truck, then growled, "Jack... We got company." It registered that there was something going on, but by the time I realized that he meant we were already under attack, the red and white lugia had already snuck up on us. I whirled around just in time to see the snarling lugia open its jaws wide for the attack.

Had I not encountered wild pokémon larger than me before, I might would have been unprepared for what was coming next. However, I had encountered large pokémon like that before, so I swiftly leaped from the truck as the mad bird bit down where I had been standing, the sound of breaking metal covering my frantic scrambling. I had no idea why exactly the lugia had not attempted to mess with my mind, but I knew that I needed to run, and fast. And there was no better place to run that into that pokémon lab. I ran straight through the ruined gates to the sanded, aged white paint on the building as I heard the fearsome wrath of the lugia behind me.

The door couldn't open fast enough as I dashed through the halfway open entrance, frantically and rather blindly running towards an elevator I hoped still worked. To my relief, when I ran in, clicked the button for down, and crossed my fingers, the elevator platform promptly lowered downward. Upon getting to the first sublevel floor, the door shinked open, and I dashed ahead of me. It had seemed as if most of the building's electrical equipment no longer functioned, although the doors and elevators seemed to work fine. That was all fine and well with me, since I was on a mad dash away from the sound of parting metal.

Shade growled menacingly as he saw the bold trainer drive off from the Snagem Base. He had hoped that the guy would at least pose a challenge, but clearly he had more balls than brains. Then again, this was the same trainer who had captured his daughter, and the same family line that held a very special relationship with pokémon in general. He smirked, as he knew precisely what he was doing, and with a single flick of his wing, signaled for Rayquaza, who was still high in the sky, to continue tracking the bike. He himself wanted to make sure he killed the last two remaining members of the Newsoia family; and he knew that one of them was attempting to run back into the Snagem base.

He flew down, his thoughts clearly being on devastation, and with a single dark hyper beam, he fired it at the base's entrance. The trainer quickly went to the ground, and as Shade prepared to crush him with his foot upon landing, the trainer sent out a terrifying howl. For a few seconds, Shade was startled, and the force of the sound wave almost sent him flapping away. However, he had trained for this very moment, and, as planned, landing, feeling the satisfying crunching of bones beneath his foot. He twisted his neck to see the motorcycle now veering and turning off into the desert. "You are next!" he hissed as he took off into the air, more than a little aware that his hyper beam had left a third, far larger hole in the side of the building, exposing the Team Snagem group gathered together, laughing and just plain joking in general about lost bets.

One thing became clear almost immediately; he had underestimated his opponent. The last time he had to deal with a lugia, a dark pulse had knocked it from its flight pattern. However, when Steven had used Dark Pulse against that shadow lugia, it hardly fazed it. Tyra silently glared at Kevin as he put full throttle on the bike. "Alright, we need to get to Cipher's Old Lab," Kevin eventually said, "we need to get that Shadow Snagger." "You do realize what just happened back there don't you?" Tyra growled, "Kenny Kevin Newsoia, you do realize what the hell just happened right?" "Yes I do!" Kevin shouted in anguish, "yes I do just realize what happened back there!" "How do you plan on 'fixing' this?" Tyra hissed violently. Kevin did not reply immediately; he couldn't. He gave a wary look towards the sky, where the silhouette of a dark green, snake-like creature could be spotted. He sighed wearily, his palms beginning to get sweaty within the leather gloves as he pulled the handles back to increase the speed of his bike.

The hide-and-go-seek game with the lugia had been going well for me, as for some odd reason, it had not actually found me yet. However, I was running out of still in one piece places to hide, and as a dimly lit room became my final place for refuge, I began searching for a more permanent solution. It probably had not been a good idea to leave Agron behind, but it was clear that I was the target. Why? If Agron's creepy message meant anything, it was because I had captured that Latios. I couldn't fight off this monster without someone both immune or at least highly resistant to the influence of psychics.

Wait a second... I DID have someone immune to psychic types! Just as I rose to my feet, I heard the sound of feet landing on metal. I ducked back behind one of the various containment chambers previously used for pokémon and I couldn't help but feel fear. If I released my pokémon, then instantly I would be exposed; but if I didn't, when I eventually was found, I was a goner. "Here here trainer, all I want is the latios!" the lugia whispered as it stealthily approached, the silent creeping barely audible over sparks from its entry. The sound of clawing on metal flooring alerted me to my own terror induced scratching on the floor. I took a deep breath, then reached onto my belt, withdrew Meta's pokéball, and prepared for the worst.

I bolted from my position, just in time to avoid the large wing that grasped at the space where I had been seconds earlier. I vaulted over a desk and then clicked the button on the pokéball. As a white flash of light was released, and what was left of the ceiling was shattered, the lugia growled menacingly at my metagross, proudly nicknamed Meta emerged.

"You sure do have quite the timing to release me Jack," Meta joked, "always against a psychic type; why don't you ever release Cambrai for times like these?" "Because Cambrai can get squashed by that thing!" I howled, "not to mention I am not sure she can take a hydro pump." "Excuse me?" the lugia hissed, "did you just refer to me as a 'thing'?" Naw, I was referring to the lugia behind you, yes I was referring to you! Too bad I didn't have the nerve to actually say that though. "Well, it isn't like I can tell the difference between male and female pokémon at just a glance!" I shouted in my defense, "and besides, why do you want this latios so bad?" "I am female, my name is Gislea, and it is none of your damn business why I want that fucking latios!" the lugia snarled, "now hand it over!" "All of this over an eon pokémon that reproduces regularly?" Meta jeered, "damn, you must like them small."

That was not a comment I expected to come from Meta of all creatures, but it certainly did the trick in enraging the pokémon into a frenzy. It stretched out a single wing, sending one of the large containers hurling towards us. Meta metalized one of his claws, then slashed the container in half, the two halves landing on either of his side. One of those halves barely kept from crushing me, a wise sidestep underneath Meta proving useful. "Meta, let's shake things up with earthquake!" I shouted, and quite promptly Meta hopped into the air. Gislea now rushed towards us, her serpentine neck expertly dodging the large metal barrier between her and me in an attempt to snap me up in her jaws.

Meta landed just as this was going on, and at the same time practically belly flopping. The only reason I was not flattened was probably because the moment Gislea made motions of going for me I had stepped back from Meta's shadow, my back to the wall, and my toes barely made clearance as a result. However, a crunch later and the walls were shaking, as clearly earthquake had made things unstable. "Let's roll!" I shouted, stumbling over some cylinder upon my departure. As I got up, I realized that there was what looked like a snag machine inside the cylinder; it was already half open anyway, and I'm sure no one had thought of using it for a long time. Not to mention if I ran into Team Snagem again, I could give them this arm machine, whether it was really a snag machine or not, as a potential bribe to get me out of trouble once and for all.

"Oh what the hell?" Kevin groaned as his bike came to a screeching halt. The ground was shaking, and it wasn't because of a natural earthquake. "It looks like someone beat us to the punch," Tyra noted, noticing the Snagem escort truck with a familiar looking pokémon inside, "your son to be specific." "What the fuck is he doing here?" Kevin growled as he disembarked, Tyra following as the earthquake began dying down, "of all places..." "I would swear that he was half absol..." Tyra joked as they reached a still disoriented Agron.

"Agron!" Kevin shouted, "wake up!" Agron snapped alert, his eyes focusing on Kevin. "Well, long time no see Kenny," Agron greeted, "tell me, what latest scheme have you cooked up?" "Where is Jack?" Tyra demanded, "and don't beat around the bush like you normally do." "I have changed a lot since I was a lairon... you wanna find out?" Agron invited Tyra with a wicked smile. Kevin growled at Agron menacingly, teeth bared, actually causing Agon to shift a bit in his seat in discomfort. Tyra gave Kevin a gentle "nudge" with her elbow to his stomach, and as he was bent over, Tyra returned the smile and replied, "Agron, as much as I would love to kick your ass again, I'm old enough to be your mother, so I think I will pass on that." Agron awkwardly looked away, rubbing his neck with false need as he waited for the moment to pass.

Suddenly, a rather angry roar rang out from inside the facility, and as it seemed as if its supports were caving in, out popped a metagross, standing tall as it swiftly but carefully lead the way from the crumbling building. Popping from there was none other than Jack, smiling as he wielded the very machine that Kevin had been coming for.

"Yo Agron!" Jack shouted as he slipped his arm into the mechanical arm, his hands fitting almost perfectly into the glove on the end, "you would never guess what I found inside Cipher's Old lab!" "An enraged lugia?" Agron joked, "or maybe Adam's snag machine?" "Even better!" Jack boasted, "I found..." "The Shadow Snagger," Kevin finished, "you found my Shadow Snagger."

I stopped cold in my tracks as I sighted two figures from my past. It was déjà vu, that was for certain. "Jack... I think your father has brought some... trouble of his own," Meta whispered, "I think you had better go ahead and bring out the rest of the party before there is a party." I hardly paid any attention as I slowly walked towards the duo, who had walked onto the other side of the truck to greet me. Tears welled up in my eyes, and a strong ring of emotion had completely overwhelmed me.

Jack looked like he was going to cry, and as Kevin held out his arms, Jack came running. Jack reached them; but as Kevin quickly realized, Jack wasn't running to him. As he ran into Tyra's arms, crying his little heart out, a certain pang of hurt brought his outstretched arms down to his sides. Agron gave him a sympathetic look, but it did nothing to console him as his own son pretty much chose his partner over him. Fair enough, he had let Tyra spend a large amount of time with him while he himself was busy, but certainly that was no reason for him not to give his father a hug first!

As he got over his personal discomfort, he smiled at Agron and Meta, both who exchanged a few words in the meantime. As time passed it seemed as if Jack would never let Tyra go, and she didn't seem eager to do the same, until an ear splitting roar shook the entire assembly down to their core. High in the sky, the black lugia landed next to the rubble that was the Cipher Lab, and grinned at having his prey where he wanted him. Regirock, Registeel, and Regice appeared next, almost materializing from nowhere as Kevin turned around. Bursting from the rubble itself was the red and white lugia, its once twisted neck being snapped back into place, a fierce scowl on her face. Kevin halfway expected a groudon to show up next when a dark green rayquaza descended upon the assembly.

"You have got to be kidding me," Mewtwo groaned as he and Latias arrived about a mile off from the scene, yet in perfect view of the gathering "what are all of them doing there?" "Maybe it is a meeting!" Latias cheerfully stated, "or maybe they have all come to greet us!" Mewtwo chuckled at the thought, and vibrations in the ground suggested the groudon duo were on their way as well. "Well, all I know is, Kevin still owes me for helping him with Suicune," Mewtwo stated as he eyed Kevin, "and he still owes me for getting him out of Johto after that whole thing." "Well, now would be an opportune time to call on the favor?" Latias suggested, "I hope Latios is still okay."

Mewtwo chuckled, then carelessly stated, "Come on Latias, his species has quite the reputation for getting out of sticky situations." "Time traveling and dealing with trainers are completely different concepts!" Latias pointed out, "you don't think he has been captured do you?" "If he has, then at least he doesn't have to worry about getting mixed up with this," Mewtwo grumbled, "we need to get down there though. I don't know why both Gislea _and_ Shade are here, but something tells me that Razi can't be too far off as a result..."

My sobbing in the arms of Tyra probably hurt my father, but it did not really matter. Although Tyra was technically a wild pokémon, she and my father went way back, and the two apparently had some secret relationship they never bothered to reveal to me. She had some strange mastery of human languages even prior to all of this that confounded even my smart uncle. However, since my father had always went off during the early days of Team Snagem's rise to fame, and the Cipher years in particular, Tyra had been keeping an eye on my rasing with a stern, yet gentle touch. Being raised by a pokémon sounds sort of cool, but when it came down to living in Phenac and going to the training school, my study of pokémon became quite personal to her. She ensured that I learned everything there was to learn about pokémon, including a few things they didn't teach in the school itself, such as how wild pokémon acted in the wild when humans weren't around.

Wild pokémon lived double lives apparently, appearing rather cute (or vicious) when humans trek on their territory, but in general possess a rather organized manner of life. Although there were no fancy machines in their world, they did possess boundaries, most of them marked by natural means, and there were disputes many times settled with tooth and claw battles. Sometimes these disputes ended up into full scale territorial world, usually resulting in the outbreak of pokémon that cause trainers to flock to certain routes, usually bringing the war to a quick end. Here in Orre, however, the areas where most wild pokémon actually dwelled were off limits to humans thanks to the preservation laws that were put into place, and the wars could settle themselves.

Nevertheless, she was pretty much both my parents when neither were present, particularly when there was actually an _if_ Dad would ever return. Mom wasn't something either Dad or Tyra spoke much about, so I assumed that she had bit the dust sometime before I attained a sticky set of memories. "Man, you would never guess how long I have been craving being in your arms again!" I sobbed pitifully, burying my head into her stomach, "even if you are a bit on the rocky side!" Although Tyra patted my back and tried to get me to focus on my environment, I had a tight grip on her waist. "Jack," Tyra whispered, "I am glad to see you too, but you do realize that that lugia still lives right?" "It's alright now that you are here!" I wailed, "you can finish it off!" The tough love idea was not foreign to Tyra, and she utilized this as she roughly shoved me away, and then turned me around. I wiped my face rapidly as I began looking at all of the legendary pokémon who were gathered here, staring at me.

I halfway pitched a tent at the thought I would get at least one chance to maybe catch one of them. "Oh..." I muttered, sniffling pitifully, "I didn't realize..." "Oh please, go ahead, we have the time!" Shade joked, "I mean, seriously, there are no clocks ticking here, we have all day for you to wail in the arms of your friend's pokémon." "I thought we were on a time limit?" Rayquaza softly growled, apparently not catching Shade's humorous fervor. The regi trio decided to beep a few times, apparently conversing between each other as I began recovering my pride.

"Okay, give me a second," I commented, taking out the premiere ball that held Latios, "I gotta do something." Much to my surprise, they patiently waited for me to actually load the premiere ball into the snag machine, and as the machine suddenly began flashing and beeping, it became clear that something special was going on. I could barely hear Tyra muttering, "What in the world is he thinking?" When the pokéball stopped flashing, I clicked the button in the back, then hurled the pokéball into the air, intrigued to see if what Keniblaze had said about this thing was accurate.

When the latios popped out, it looked rather normal to me, aside from the strange coloration you would normally see on a latias. It no longer had any signs of injury, and its eyes slowly opened as it floated down next to me. Shade blinked, then looked towards Gislea. "You have been going after a latios?" Shade jeered, "I have to admit, that is not really what I figured you would spend all of your time going after." Suddenly, some guy in a red snagger outfit showed up, covered in dust. "Thanks Gislea, I wanted my body back, I am not thrilled to have to go through the spirit world for it!" he snarled as he walked towards the lugia apparently named Gislea, "jeez, where does a latios have to go to get some help around here?"

Before I could register what precisely was going on, my latios glared at Gislea, and some impulse literally made me take some large steps away from it. However, as I did so, someone grabbed my right arm, whirled me around, and clicked some button on the front of the snag machine on that arm. The entire thing literally released my arm, and promptly Kevin began placing it on his arm. "Err, Dad..." I muttered, "what are you doing?" "I'm snagging me a Jirachi spirit!" he shouted, unveiling a purple ball with an 'M' on its front. He placed it in the snag machine, and as the pokéball brightly began glowing, Kevin swirled on a single heel and then hurled it towards my latios.

My latios disappeared into the ball, and the second it landed, the ball clicked. It then returned to my father's snag machined hand, and with a single motion released my latios, its red and white patterns now noticeably darkened, its eyes completely glowing red. The latios raised its lips in a snarl as a I stared in bewilderment and shock.

Rita blinked as she yawned, Raijin and herself having returned to the Distortion World for a slight bantering session. She was getting quite bored, as Raijin was not the best conversationalist, and it was quite clear that all he wanted was to get on top of her. She wouldn't admit it, but she actually would have rathered put up with Arceus' immaturity than Raijin's male maturity. "Anyway, clearly Ace and Arceus are going to be awhile..." Raijin whispered, "we have quite the time..." "Giratina!" squeaked a voice, literally making Raijin cringe and grit his teeth. Rita discreetly thanked Arceus that someone had finally rescued her from Raijin's rather persistent advances. Azelf and Mespirit flew towards the duo, urgency on their faces.

"You do not know how glad I am to see you," Rita greeted as the two floated before them, "you have absolutely no idea at all how glad I am that you are here right now." "Since when have there been two giratinas?" Azelf asked, "last time I checked, there was only one." "It is... Complicated," Rita joked, "let's just say that there is something on the other side of the mirror." "Right..." Azelf responded in confusion. "Well, we have a problem," Mespirit hurriedly informed Rita, "the entire world is about to get flipped upside down by Jirachi." Rita chuckled, then replied, "Please, I know Gislea is going to try to use its power, but I really don't think it is anything other than a time changing wish." "But that is the problem," Mespirit said with quite the concern present in its voice, "Gislea isn't the only one trying to use Jirachi's power!"

Now Rita perked up in interest. "Well, then who else is trying to use that power?" Rita inquired, "as far as I know, Shade doesn't need that power to accomplish his objective; although, I admit, it would make things faster." "We have reason to believe that a human organization is after that power as well!" Mespirit exclaimed, "not only that, Mewtwo may also be targeting Jirachi's successor!" Rita glared at Raijin. Raijin's eyes opened wide, then he quickly said, "I did not know about this at all, I assure you!" Rita rolled her eyes, honestly not believing him, then shifted her gaze back towards two of the three Lake Guardians. "Where is Uxie?" Rita asked as she looked for the usual ringleader, "I'm surprised that it isn't here to explain everything."

"Uxie went on to alert some other party clearly it didn't want us to know about," Azelf answered, "where specifically we do not know." Rita sighed. Things were not going according to plan at all. "Understood, you two might wanna stay here..." Rita offered until Raijin cut in. "Actually, I think it would be better if they go search for their missing trio member," Raijin interrupted, "of all trios, the Lake Guardians are significantly important to the reversal of anything done by a jirachi." Mespirit and Azelf both seemed unsure of who they really wanted to listen to, but eventually decided that it would probably be best to leave, as they both shimmered and vanished.

Raijin looked towards Rita with a sinister smile. "Now, where were we..." he continued, beaming. Rita gave him a slight smile back, then replied, "Hm, actually, I think we were at the part where I head back to my world." Rita begins walking off, but Raijin swiftly cuts her in front of her. "Now hold on a second, you can't leave until Ace gets through with Arceus and the two of you make up," Raijin reminded her, "that wasn't exactly an optional requirement." "And if I were to leave right now?" Rita asked, "what are you going to do, pursue me in my own world?" Raijin's smile dropped to a series frown.

"I would not allow you to even get that far." "Is that a challenge?" Rita teased, not taking Raijin overly seriously, "because if so, I am more than willing to take it." Raijin did not smile, grin, or even chuckle, giving a sign that he was not at all joking. "You're serious?" Rita whined, "what if he never comes back with Ace?" "Oh, trust me, he will be coming back with her eventually," Raijin growled, "for his sake she had better remain as I left her." "What is that supposed to mean?" Rita inquired, slowly backing away towards a rift she had opened. Raijin sighed, then explained, "Essentially, if I find that Ace has been taking something different, that certain something is going to get snapped!" Raijin's threat fell on deaf ears, however, as Rita head vanished through the gate as it closed, leaving Raijin by himself in the Distortion World.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, "I thought family doesn't snag from family!" "You will thank me later," Dad (AKA Kevin) growled as he shouted, "Razi, I have a wish to be granted!" By this point Shade made a face that unveiled he understood what was going on, but based on his lack of movement, clearly didn't want to do anything. Gislea, however, was already making a mad dash towards us, clearing the distance in nigh no time as she made an attempt to physically capture latios, or Razi, or whatever.

"Razi, I wish for my deepest desire to be reality!" Dad howled into the air as Gislea leapt into the air. "Can he wish that?" I heard someone mutter as it registered to me that being so close to my father was probably not a good idea. So naturally by this point I was backing away, but quite suddenly latios began glowing, and before I could say anything different, a flash of light enveloped the entire area. Gislea froze in midair, as did everyone else, as the entire world around us began taking on that bright flash's color. "But I don't understand..." latios muttered, "I thought..." "Correctly," Dad sneered, "unfortunately for you, I released the contents of the fossil quite a while ago back in Sinnoh."

"Why didn't you say something?" Tyra hissed, "that would have saved all of us a lot of trouble." "Oh, trust me, it was all well worth it," Dad announced, "for from this day forth, things are going to be different in this world!" The brilliant flashing of light completely whitened my vision, almost as if snow vision had completely taken over. I was forced to close my eyes and cover my ears, promptly due to the flash and the noisy background of Gislea screeching in frustration and apparently anger.

Then... Everything went quiet. All was dark, and as I opened my eyes, I noticed that the only light I could see, dimly that is, was a small campfire. I nearly gasped when the figure of some kind of elf appeared. "Where am I?" I asked, trembling, "more importantly, who are you?" "Jack Newsoia," the figure ominously moaned, "there is much that you must be told." "What do you mean?" I asked as the elf began looking more like a large fairy as it approached, "that does not make any sense!" "The one you call 'daddy' just removed one of the most important moments in your history," the creature informed me, "my name is Uxie, and you no longer exist."

What the "Hell?" I exclaimed, "what do you mean 'don't exist' anymore?" "Kevin Newsoia removed an important period in human-pokémon relations," Uxie explained, "without that event and the trainers that rose from it, some people and pokémon such as yourself would no longer exist." "Thanks a lot Jack," an irritatingly familiar voice jeered, "you let your father screw us." I whirled around to face Cynthia, who, in the dim light, appeared far more ghastly than a haunter on the new moon. I jumped back, only causing her to step forward, a scowl written all over her face. "Listen, don't blame me for what he did!" I shot in an attempt to ward off any oncoming attacks. I still remembered quite clearly our little fight in the legendary colosseum, and I was not eager to face her when she was sane. "Uxie, explain to us both why we haven't just completely vanished into nothingness, like anything else directly related to our time," Cynthia growled, brushing roughly past me, "I don't really feel like getting my vengeance at this very moment."

Vengeance? I swear, she had something personal against me for some odd reason, and she definitely hated my family line with an odd vigor. "Well, while most people would have been merely put into the place where they would be in that time and space, it seems that the four of you did not have a pre-determined place in the new order of things," Uxie explained, "this is also partly because Celebi did some grunt work for once." "Your welcome," the green plant fairy grumbled, "don't ask, because it was hell doing it." "So, how do we fix this?" another, completely unfamiliar voice asked, "because I worked like a dog to become a champion, and if you think I am honestly going to give that up..." "Gary mother fucking Oak!" Cynthia exclaimed, "get over it! Don't you think we all worked hard to get to where we are today?"

Gary (I'll refrain from repeating that phrase) gave Cynthia a look of steel, hardly visible in the darkness. "Can someone turn on the lights?" I asked, "because I can hardly see you all." "You have seen all that you have had to," another unfamiliar voice stated, "tensions are running high, and some of us think it would be best if we were not able to see each other too well." Red hair and a rather exhausted face appeared next to Uxie. "Gary, Cynthia control yourselves!" he barked, the two turning their backs to each other in response. I sighed. "Anyway, my name is Alder, and I was the champion of Unova," the red haired guy said, "for some odd reason, I ended up getting here first before you three showed up."

"So why are there three champions..." I started till Uxie actually opened its eyes. Its large yellow eyes were inviting, yet at the same time nostalgic to look at. Cynthia refrained from looking at them, but Uxie muttered, "it is fine, your memories will be wiped anyway when Celebi sends you back." "Back?" I questioned, "back to where, the future?" For some clearly out of character reason, that instilled a rather lighthearted laugh from Uxie, its small body shaking. I had not even realized I made a joke until Uxie said through the laughter, "Back to the future... Ha, nice joke Jack." Cynthia looked at me with confusion, and in response, I merely shrugged, because I really did not get it either. Gary chuckled, then retorted, "I guess the thought of going _back_ to the future really cracked Uxie up."

No doh, and the moment Gary said that, Celebi burst out laughing, which, combined with Uxie's laughter, sounded rather creepy, with their high pitched laughs in such mad unison. When the two finally calmed down, Uxie wiped a few tears from its eyes. "But seriously, I am going to throw you all back into the mix; hopefully when we see each other there we can go ahead and try to fix this," Uxie declared, seriousness returning. "Now hold on a second, I miss my championship as much as the next, but shouldn't we view things as they are?" Alder suggested, "that would make more sense if you think about it." "No," Uxie said, "you would not remember it anyway. I will re-instill your memories once we meet up." "Do we instantly lose our memories?" I asked, "and we will be going in there as ourselves won't we?"

Uxie did not answer, and this drew concern from Gary. "Well, aren't we going to be heading into this new world as ourselves?" Gary repeated, "say yes or no, it isn't a hard question." "I..." Uxie replied quietly, "I... don't know." You could drop a piece of lead and you could have heard it clearly; that was how silent the entire chamber was. "You will retain your memories for about three hours," Uxie reported, "after that, you will lose them." No one else said anything as Uxie nodded to Celebi, who raised its skinny, short arms into the air and began circling the four of us, its green glow illuminating each as it made three revolutions around us. In the middle of the second revolution, suddenly a green circle formed where we were, and it was at this moment that I realized another question of mine was not answered. "Wait!" I inaudibly shouted, which caused me to grasp my throat in alarm. Green light suddenly enveloped me, and a strange sensation tingled throughout my entire body, and before I could make another move, I seem to had just fallen through the empty space, grasping at the air...


	16. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Jack," a distant sounding voice sounded, "within a few moments, almost all will become clear." "What do you mean?" I inquired, "what will become clear?" Moments later, flashes of the various events that lead towards my father making his life altering wish. Starting from Giratina's escape from the Distortion World and leading onwards, I could hardly take it all in. I blinked, then commented, "Seems rather odd that I am being presented all of this." "Well, whether you like it or not, I need this in your brain to make explaining everything easier!" Uxie scolded, "besides, you should be grateful for such an opportunity!"

As special as it was, I still had my misgivings. "But my head is starting to pound," I whined, "this is too much to take in..." "Err, Uxie, we have a problem," the sound of Celebi worriedly calling concerned me. "What is it?" Uxie asked, and as their inaudible whispers went from frantic to absolute panic, I heard another familiar shout. "Hey, what is the big idea, don't we get to know what is going on?" Gary asked, "I am sure that is our right!" "Although I hate to agree with him, I express similar concerns," Cynthia pitched in, "can't you just speak to us about this?"

The whispering continued until even Alder exclaimed, "Can we at least get some kind of clue as to what is going wrong!" The conversation was jarred by the unexpected and rather sudden outburst, and the silence was soon filled by Celebi. "Well, we have come to a rather difficult crossroads," Celebi sighed, "Kevin did not just change history by his wish; he actually sent himself back into history." "So, he inserted himself in a critical juncture," I concluded, "which means, sending us to the future when the wisher would have long died would be defeating the purpose right?" "Precisely," Celebi confirmed, "to actually undo a wish, the original wisher must appeal to the wish-maker of the era."

"What do you mean, 'of the era'?" I asked, "hasn't Jirachi always been the wish-maker?" "Well, not always," Cynthia corrected, "Arceus at one time was the only one who possessed the power to make anything happen." "How do you..." Gary started until he gasped. I blinked, or at least I think I did, as I processed the same information. "How long is this going to continue?" I asked, "as fascinating as it is to know what Team Snagem was doing while I was getting chased by a lugia, how are you going to make us remember all of this?" "Well, the thing is, if we have to go back in time, then that complicates things," Celebi snarled, "basically, instead of merely warping through the altered time line, we now need to actually find out where the hell he went back to!"

Well, when Celebi put it that way, that did complicate things. "Can't you managed that?" I asked, "sounds like we would still be non-existent." "But that is the thing," Uxie growled, "if we were to put you back into that time, then there would be hardly any way to find you, because we have no idea what you would re-animate as." "Perhaps in the normal human language?" Gary pleaded with only a hint of sarcasm, "there are those of us here who would like it straight forwardly put." "If we put you there, you could end up being a smexy girl," Celebi bluntly put it, "it may not cure your mouth, but you would get a nice pair of..." "Okay I get it!" Gary blurted, causing a giggle from Cynthia, which was rather uncharacteristic of her.

"So... That is it?" Alder said, "that is what have you all in an uproar?" "Well, if you change your appearances dramatically enough, finding you will be harder than finding a navy blue needle in a stack of black needles!" Uxie pointed out, "we can't restore your memory as quickly or restore you to your original selves all that quickly; by then the original wisher, who's memory would remain completely intact and identity likely to remain the same, may track you down based on your individual auras, which should remain unchanged." "Why not use those to track us down?" Cynthia asked, " wouldn't that be easier?" "Well, your enemy will have a head start, as they could have the entire world checked before we could risk revealing ourselves to just one region's population," Celebi once again pointed out, "remember, it is unlikely that Kevin is going to be a figure hidden in the shadows." "Knowing my father and his involvements, I would not put it past him really," I corrected, "come to think of it, I would be shocked if he was in the front lights."

"But he believes that he has won though," Celebi argued, "there does not seem to be any reason for him to hide." "We are not going to reason with this mad killer!" Cynthia snarled, "if he doesn't willingly reverse the wish, killing him is an option right?" "Well... yes, but I am not sure what would happen if he dies as an indirect result of the wish," Uxie replied uneasily, "basically, since he covered his tracks by going back into time, then we do not know what we are faced with exactly until we get there." "And since Jirachi did this, then by then it would be too late to revert to this 'in between' limbo location we are currently stationed in," Alder mused, "as a result, we need to hope that we do not become low life thieves." "Not all thieves are low life!" I argued, ready to duke it out verbally when the flashing light show ended.

Without warning, a sudden flash of lightning startled me. The sound of roaring continued to frighten me, and as I stepped away from the powerful sources of noise, I eventually lost my footing, and I ended up plunging into the dark depths. My heart was racing as everything around me once again went dark, the feeling of claustrophobia being enhanced by the seemingly closing in darkness.

Eventually, all of the noise stopped. I can easily hear the sounds of muffled sobbing, along with the murmurs of another. The space I was stuck in was completely enclosed, cutting off significant sources of air and blocking any lights or view. I could already feel myself slipping ever so slowly, my own name hardly being in my head anymore. Was it Jack? Jill? Hurvey Genkins? Gah, all I know is, I need to get out of here! With a forceful movement, my arm appears to have found a weak point; at the top. My attacking of the top eventually yields results, as the satisfying "craaack" sound could be heard, and a rush of cold air overcame me.

Pushing the top of my prison over my head, light flooded my eyes, clearly unused to any large sources of light, and the last remnants of my memory, the confrontation with Cynthia back in the Legendary Colessuim, begin to fade, and with a deep gulp I take what feels like my first breath. My eyes searing with pain, my entire body being racked by this cold, I shiver on instinct alone, as I open my mouth wide to wail out, to let everyone present know of my personal turmoil. Suddenly, a soft, warm object enveloped me, and as my vision finally began focusing out, I could see the outline of what looked to be a face, tears running down its face as it snuggled me. This was one huge face, and for some reason, I can not recall who or what I am staring at, no names of significance coming to mind.

A short, pink object began rasping over my head, gently, but effectively comforting me ever so slowly as my body began heating up, and the searing cold around me began mellowing out. I ceased my wailing, although I could hardly see anything clearly, and attempted to bury myself into the warm presence ahead of me, the white returning to my field of view due to my objective. Quickly, I began dozing off, warmth and a sense of security enveloping me as whatever had me so close to its chest embracing me with its body...

_ Well, I am sure many of you are sort of wondering what the heck... But never fret! Unlike most of the rest of my story, this will probably be the only part that will not be altered AT ALL after "'publishing'! Don't skip ahead to the conclusion though; you do not want to ruin the surprise! The follow-up story after I polish this one will be a continuation (and hopefully explanation) of what that was all about. Thanks for bearing with me so long, and I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did! _

_P.S Believe it or not, it was absolute hell transferring from the past tense to the present tense in the first person, as I am more accustomed to the former rather than the latter. _


End file.
